Hydromancer
by Solo Gamer
Summary: On the day of his mothers death, an 8 year old Percy commits a life altering act and is introduced to the world of the Olympians. Found in the forest by a Naiad, how will he cope when he is thrust into the life of a demigod, a world he'd only heard stories about, and a great prophecy. Review and tell me what you think. Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does.
1. The Blood On My Hands

The forest is an amazing place during the day. The sunlight filtering through the canopy illuminates the activity of the forest floor. Bird song, animal noise, and the rustling of leaves came together to create a beautiful symphony of sounds that pleased the ear of any traveler wise enough to know its mystery. However, that was only one side of the forest because when night fell the forest became something sinister. Predators of many shapes and sizes stalked through the underbrush preying on any unsuspecting animal that had the misfortune of gaining its attention. The noises that once comforted in the daylight sent chills down the spine of any inexperienced traveler that dared venture into its dark embrace. Unfortunately for the young black haired child that was currently running to escape his torment, this was his only salvation left. The predator that stalked him was probably the worst of all.

The low hanging branches scratched and clawed at the little boys face as he struggled to keep moving forward under the eerie moonlight. The light exposed the ragged blue shorts that covered his legs, scars new and old that crisscrossed his chest and arms, and the tears that dripped from his dark emerald eyes. His breath shot out of him in ragged gasps that condensed in the chilly weather, and the cold bite of the air assaulted his exposed arms and legs. He could still hear the snapping of branches, crunching of fallen leaves and angry shouts signaling that his pursuer was still close and closing in. If he didn't do anything he wouldn't escape. He couldn't go back. Not anymore. Not after what he did.

"PERCY! Get the Hell back over here!"

'No damn it! How did he find me! ?' Percy berated himself as he stumbled through some bushes, 'I was careful! I waited till he was sleep! So how did he know!?'

A sharp pain exploded in the back of the young boy's left leg causing him to stumble and fall into a clearing. Had he had the time or been in the right state of mind he would've seen the beauty of the clearing he just fell into. The beautiful moonlit lake that lay twenty feet in front of him with crystal clear water, the glistening stars in the sky above unblocked by the skyscrapers of the city, and the natural quite that permeated the area. He would've noticed the jagged gash that appeared on his calf, or blood rushing down the back of his leg, or the sharp stone that had caused the wound, but Percy was too busy trying to escape his tormentor to car. He clawed at the frigid earth and pulled himself upwards and began to hobble further into the clearing. His speed was greatly diminished with that blow. It was only a matter of time until the bane of his existence ended it.

He reached the edge of the water and turned, with nowhere else to run it looked like this was the end. He watched in abject horror as his step-father emerged from the clearings edge with eyes devoid of any feeling and a sinister smile on his face. He held a large butcher knife in his right hand that still dripped with the fresh blood. Percy knew that knife all too well. It was the knife his mother had been murdered with.

"End of the line you little shit," chuckled Gabe darkly, "Don't worry I promise to make it as painful as possible when I skewer you."

Percy was gasping for air as he stared into the eyes of his mother murderer, his legs barely support him, his eyes were dull and unfocused as he teetered on the edge of consciousness; the only thing keeping him awake being adrenaline and the threat of dying. An aura of fear surrounded the boy. He didn't want it this to be the way his life ended. Sure he didn't have much to live for anyways, living with the abuse his stepfather caused his him and his mom for eight years hadn't exactly made him happy to be alive and now this, but he had never been one to give up.

"I don't want to go…," Percy gasped out as he caught his breath.

Gabe snorted, "You don't have a choice. Say hi to your mom for me."

With each step Gabe took toward Percy he himself took a step back, wincing in pain every time he moved his injured leg. When he felt his feet in the water a sudden rush of energy flooded through Percy's system. His shortness of breath disappeared, his mind cleared, and had he been looking he would've seen the wound on his leg close and heal, but the greatest change was what happened to the fear. The overwhelming fear he felt not moments ago was being replaced by anger…no not anger. A white hot fury began to course through his veins. He remembered all the years of torture, neglect, and abuse him and his mom had suffered at the hands of his step-father. He remembered the insults and ridicule he received, but most of all he remembered the look on his moms face as she was murdered. With each memory his fury grew and his eyes began to glow an eerie toxic green.

The fury condensed in his stomach and after a brief tugging feeling he exploded. A bloodcurdling roar ripped from the eight-year-old's throat and the lake behind him came alive. Large tendrils of water rose and began lashing around Percy as Gabe watched in shock and fear.

"NO MORE!" Percy growled out, "This is the last time you'll hurt ANYONE!"

Percy thrust his left arm out in a grasping motion and the water complied, mimicking his movements and grabbing Gabe as he tried to escape. Percy yanked his arm up and the water launched him skyward while the knife in Gab's hand fell into the dirt, but before he reached his apex he slashed his right arm down causing another tendril to lash out and bat Gabe to the ground where he landed with a loud crunch. Tears were streaming out of Percy's eyes and a crazed laugh bubbled out his mouth as he began to beat the man into the ground with the water under his control. For five long minutes Percy unleashed his rage.

Suddenly the anger left him, and the watery tendrils under his control succumbed to gravity and fell to the earth. The exhaustion he had felt before began to creep back, but before he passed out there was one more thing that needed to be done. Percy stumbled out of the water and picked up the knife that Gabe had dropped during Percy's assault. He stared at it, his reflection staring back at him with dull eyes then walked to his step-father's prone figure. Gabe was barely clinging to life, bruises covering his entire body as his dull black eyes stared up at the sky. Percy reached down with his left hand and after gripping a handful of Gab's hair yanked him upwards so that they were staring at each other. Percy's knuckles were white as he lifted the knife to his step-father's throat. He pressed it into the tender flesh as he leaned forward to whisper into his victim's ear,

"Burn in hell you fucking monster."

The knife parted the flesh on Gabe's throat with ease as blood began to pour out of the wound, dripping onto Percy's hand and the frozen ground below as he watched as the life left his step-father's eyes.

"It's finally over," he whispered to himself, "Rest in peace mom."

Silently he stood back up and turned back to the lake to wash his hands of blood, dropping the knife on the way. One step was all he was able to take before unconsciousness claimed him, but as teetered forward face first into the shallow water Percy could've sworn he saw someone watching him.


	2. Aftermath

**Hey guys I'm back with another chapter of Hydromancer! This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic so please bear with me on any mistakes I might make. Without further ado…on to the next chapter!**

Percy, despite being only eight, is used to waking up in places he doesn't remember going to sleep in before. He'd woken up in alleyways, parks, and forests. He'd woken up on the floor outside of his apartment and even in the bathtub once. So insight of all of this it's safe to say Percy usually doesn't freak out when he wakes up in unfamiliar locations anymore, but when his heavy eyelids lifted after a long resting sleep they almost immediately widened in shock.

It wasn't so much the fact that he woke up in a comfortable bed with white sheets and a dark blue comforter thrown over him. It wasn't the fact that he was wearing a too big black t-shirt with matching basketball short. Hell it wasn't even the fact that there was a giant fish swimming around the room. Those things he would question later, but couldn't care less about now. What shocked him was when it talked.

_'Ah I see you've awoken young lord,_' the fish spoke even though its mouth didn't budge, _'I shall go fetch mi…'_

"HOLY CRAP YOU CAN TALK!" Percy shrieked at the top of his lungs, completely disregarding the fact that he was breathing and speaking under water.

'_Well if you'd allow me to explain…'_

"YOUR LIPS AREN'T MOOVING, BUT I CAN HEAR YOUR VOICE! HOW CAN YOU EVEN TALK?!"

At this point the fish really wanted to eat this kid. All that ungodly screaming was beginning to get on his nerves, but as if to answer his prayers for silence the one he was going to go get walked into the room. She cast an amused glance at the fish seeing his aggravated face then turned her attention to the still freaking out Percy. She strode forward and put a finger to his mouth effectively stopping the verbal catastrophe Percy was causing, though she could still see the panic in his bright green eyes.

Percy came to his senses at the woman's touch and his gaze fell upon her. The first thing he noticed about her was that she was very pretty. She looked around six feet, with skin that held a bluish tint to it. Her long, shiny, black hair floated around behind her as if frozen in movement, a small smile adorned her face, and her deep blue eyes shone with laughter and happiness. She wore a white long-sleeve t-shirt with wide openings at the wrists, and light blue sweat pants. Percy couldn't help the light blush that rose splashed across his face. Seeing this, the woman chuckled as she removed her hand so she could address the young child.

"Hello, my name's Serena," she said in a soothing, melodious voice that caused the blush on Percy's face to redden, "Now that you're done screaming, how about you tell your name and came to show up at my lake young one."

A pout instantly sprung upon Percy's face at being called "Young One" and he muttered,

"My names Percy, not young one, and I was at your lake because…"

The memories of the night previous flooded into Percy's conscious mind causing him to stiffen as tears began to pool in his eyes. His mother's murder at the hands of his step-father, his terror filled run through the star-lit forest, him beating Gabe with the water then slitting his throat, it all came rushing back and it was too much for Percy to handle. Tears cascaded down his face as realization set in. His mom was dead, and he killed his step-father last night. The thought of taking someone's life made the little child sick to his stomach. He was a monster now, murderer, and not only was he a murderer, he was all alone now. No one would care about him. No one would miss him. These thoughts only caused more tears to fall as his sadness sucked him in. Seeing this, Serena pulled the young child into her lap and sat down on the bed as he purged himself of the tears.

"What's wrong Percy?" she asked, 'What could possibly make him feel so much pain?'

He looked up at Serena, his eyes now dull, and broken and whispered a reply,

"I'm…..a monster," he paused as his sobs made him unable to talk, "I let mommy die. My step-dad killed her. I could've helped her….but I didn't and now she's gone. Then he tried to kill me…and I ran to this lake where something strange happened that gave me power. And I used it to kill that asshole Gabe for doing what he did!...but that makes me no better than him doesn't it?"

Serena couldn't help the tears that fell from her as she listened to Percy's broken voice. This young boy was forced to watch as his mother was killed, and then was forced to turn around and become a murderer himself. The fates truly were cruel sometimes. She rocked him back and forth and began to hum. A haunting melody that sounded full of sadness, but hope and happiness as well. Soon Percy's sobbing became crying, and then dulled to whimpers, and then finally stopped all together as he focused his attention on the melody. Serena sat Percy up so that he was sitting facing her on her lap. She slowly leaned forward and tenderly kissed Percy's forehead startling him and catching his attention.

"Percy I need you to listen to me ok?" she said in a soothing voice to which he replied with a nod, "Listen, I'm so sorry for what happened to your mother and it's ok for you to be sad too, but you can't blame yourself. Your only eight years old, there is only so much you can do. So don't blame yourself ok?"

Percy nodded back, but she could tell it would take a lot more than just sitting him down and talking to him to make him stop blaming himself, but there was more she had to say right now.

"Secondly, don't you ever compare yourself to that piece of vile trash who murdered your mother. Sure you killed him using the water, which we will talk about after this, but what you did was out of self-defense right?"

He nodded again feeling slightly better thanks to the talk the woman was giving him.

"Well then you most certainly are not a monster so I don't want to hear you call yourself a monster anymore ok sweetie? You are not a monster ok, and you're not alone. I'm going to help you get through this. I know it hurts now, but in time your wounds will heal. Your mom wouldn't want you to call yourself a monster and be sad would she?"

"N-no…she'd say I need to smile so that I can be happy again."

"See now, do you understand?"

A brief pause filled the air before he spoke again,

"You're really gonna help me? You won't leave me alone right?"

She smiled down at him and pulled him into a tight hug that seemed to warm his insides as he hugged her back with equal force.

"Tha…thank you," he whispered as he hugged her, and she replied by briefly squeezing him tighter.

Moment later a gentle snoring could be heard coming from Percy as he rested on Serena's chest, indicating that he had fallen asleep. The emotional strain must have been too much for him to handle. Serena gently lay back on the bed and wrapped her arms around Percy. She was determined. She was going to help this poor soul any way she could. She knew she could never replace his real mom, but he needed a mother figure in his life right now. So as she closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander, Serena imagined all the things she would help him accomplish, all the things they would be doing together. She smiled brightly at the little boy sleeping peacefully on her chest. Yes she would help young Percy through this rough patch in his life, and gain some much needed company. The lake gets lonely when all you have to talk to are fish.

She chuckled as she realized he didn't even question the fact that they were under water the entire time. Yeah, Poseidon's child would make great company, and a great hero.

**Aaaand that's a wrap for this chapter folks! Rate and Review please. Tell me what you liked about it and what not. Also, what do you guys think of a Percy/Thalia pairing?**

**Solo Gamer logging off.**


	3. Happiness Ascending

**0Hey everybody the next chapter of Hydromancer is here! I'm having a lot of fun writing this story and would love to hear what you guys think about it so please tell your friends to read, and review afterwards. On to the chapter!**

The bright sun illuminated the clearing and reflected off the lake's water giving it a brilliant glow. A young boy could be seen under the mid morning sun sliding across the top of the lake as if skating, an exuberant smile plastered across his face as he spun and maneuvered. His black hair, which had grown a couple inches below his shoulders, was waving wildly in the breeze. Black basketball shorts adorned his legs and were the only article of clothing he currently wore leaving his now lightly tanned skin exposed, the scars on his chest and back were faded but still quite visible.

On the shore of the lake, Serena sat with her legs in the water and content smile on her face. She had done the hardest part of what she had set out to do, even if it had taken about two years to do it. She had finally got Percy to stop blaming himself for his mother's death and thinking he was a monster. The first couple of months he was absolutely miserable. He refused to leave the lake and go to the surface. He was quit and his eyes always held this broken and lost look, but care full prodding and coaxing eventually got him to come out and start to enjoy life again. Serena had gotten the spark of life to return to his eyes, and he began to smile that infectious little grin of his more and more. It was two weeks after his happiness returned that she told him of his Olympian heritage, and his reaction made her laugh till this day.

**FLASH BACK (1 YEAR AND 4 MONTHS)**

"Percy can you come here please?" asked Serena as she watched the young child roam the forest around her lake, "I need to talk with you about something."

With a rustling of the leaves the boy in question appeared, hanging upside down from a tree. He unhooked his legs and as he fell flipped in midair so he landed on his feet. He trotted over to Serena, plopped down next to her, and then looked up at her with a curious gaze. She pulled him into her lap and began playing with his shaggy black hair, something he enjoyed immensely.

"Percy….what do you know of Greek Mythology?"

A confused look flashed on his face before being replaced with one of concentration. Serena couldn't help but chuckle at Percy's scrunched up face as he dived into his mind to look for the answer to the question he was asked.

"Uhhh…..isn't that like….the guy with the beard who throws lightning….or like Hercules?"

Serena couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at Percy's answer. That was probably the funniest way she'd ever heard Zeus described, and by an eight year old no less.

"C-close but not quite," she laughed.

Over the next hour she explained to young Percy about Olympus and the twelve gods that ruled there. While she was explaining Percy felt an odd connection to the one she called Poseidon, and though he loved hearing about all the Olympians he was confused as to why they were talking about them. However, before he could ask the question that was bouncing around in his head Serena's voice broke him from his musings.

"Percy have you ever wondered why you or me could breathe underwater? Or how you did what you did with the water that night?"

A sheepish grin spread across his face as he rubbed the back of his head and replied,

"Not really. I kinda just thought it was a really cool trick something."

Serena looked down at him with a deadpanned expression. He'd been living under water with her for over four months, and he just passed it off as some cool trick?

"Not quite kiddo. You see I'm what's known as Naiad, a being that presides over bodies of fresh water, and you young sir are a half blood."

His face held a look of abject confusion as he voiced his question, "What's a half blood?"

"A half blood is someone who has the blood of a Greek good flowing through their veins. Either their mother or father was a god and passed down a few abilities to their children. You Percy are a half blood and not just any half blood, but the son of Poseidon. That's why you can manipulate the water around you, all the fish in this lake call you lord, and you can breathe underwater."

Percy's eyes widened. He was the son of Poseidon. The God of seas, earthquakes, storms, and horses was his father? Serena was just waiting for the blow up. No one just accepts the fact that their father is a God, especially someone who's been living a normal, well as normal as his life could get, life for years. She was waiting for the freak out and the influx of questions that were sure to flow from the young child like water from a hose, but imagine her surprise when he reacted in the complete opposite way. He just stared at her wide eyed for a few moments before his gaze returned to normal and he says,

"Oh, that's cool."

**FLASHBACK END**

From that moment forward Percy had wanted to know everything about the Greek pantheon, and he started training himself so he could master his Hydrokinesis. It was a long road, but over the year and a half he'd been training he had become very good at manipulating water, and was close to being able to turn it into its other forms. He'd developed a fighting style using his water that was incredibly free form when he heard of the dangerous life demigods lived. He wanted to be able to protect his mother when the monsters finally came. He'd learned that his bastard of a step-father had been good for one thing. He smelled so horribly that it covered his scent, the only reason his mom had married him, and essentially made him undetectable to monsters. However, the stench that protected him was fading and it was only a matter of time before the monsters were able to detect him. He vowed to be ready. Who knew that day would be coming soon.

Percy's stomach alerted him to his hunger, throwing off his concentration, and by extension, his balance. Serena laughed out loud as she watched Percy's legs shoot out from underneath him and fall face first into the water with a resounding slap, then slide forward until he reached the bank right next to her. She rubbed the back of his head affectionately.

"Are you ok Percy? Do you need me to kiss it and make it better?"

Percy pushed himself into a kneeling position and glared at Serena as he willed himself dry, though it looked more like a pout and the giant red mark on his face only made it harder for Serena to hold back her laughter.

"Ha-ha very funny mom, I've only been doing this for a couple weeks so just you wait soon I'll get so good I'll be able to walk on the water in the air!"

Serena smiled as Percy called her mom. He'd called her that for the first time a few months ago, taking her by surprise. When she asked him why he called her mom, he said that she had been there for him when he was sad and he couldn't help but think of her like a mom. Their bond had strengthened since that day.

"I'm sure you will son, but until then just be careful doing this," she lightly scolded him as she stood and prepared to walk into the lake, "Now come on, you look like you could use some lunch."

As they began to descend into the water a rustling in the brush that outlined the clearing caught Percy's attention, and he turned to go investigate when his curiosity got the best of him. Ignoring his mom's warnings he continued to the edge of the clearing. As he approached he could hear faint muttering that increased in volume as he neared the edge. He began to discern a few voices coming from the forest.

"Dude we're totally lost! This wouldn't have happened had you just asked the guy for directions!" yelled a feminine voice.

"Shut up! We're not lost! We're just…..misplaced?" replied another more masculine voice.

"…..That explanation was so bad that not even you believe it…." the voice replied.

"Would you to shut up before you get us both caught!? We barely managed to lose that hellhound and you to bickering might attract the damn thing," said another feminine voice.

"Shut up Annabeth. Look there's a clearing just ahead lets rest there for now and catch our bearings," replied the first feminine voice.

Percy pondered whether or not he should go hide or not. Three unknown people were about to enter the clearing and he didn't know if they were friend or foe, but something in him told him that he wasn't in any danger, at least not from them. He looked back at his mom and saw her shaking her head in exasperation at Percy's actions. She knew that Percy was in no danger right now; if it was a monster she would've sensed it minutes before this. She knew she needed to work with Percy on his curiosity and carelessness though, a bad trait to have when being a demigod. Had it actually been a monster he would've been killed. A loud snap sounded while he was still looking away and next thing Percy knew he was laying on his back, his eyes scrunched closed in pain. He heard a gasp, then multiple pairs of footsteps.

"Percy are you alright?" he heard his mom ask him as she approached.

"Yeah mom I'm fine, just got hit off guard," He replied.

Percy slowly opened his eyes and saw the most hauntingly sky blue eyes he'd ever seen, eyes so blue they were electrifying.

**First encounter achieved! Trophy unlocked! I'm pretty sure everybody knows who ran into Percy. Anyways, things are starting to heat up, and some things are beginning to develop. Things are in store for our young hero, some things good, some things you might hate me for, but until next chapter. READ AND REVIEW!**


	4. Hound of Hell

**Hello All! Here comes the latest installment of Hydromancer! We left off last chapter with the beginning of a surprise encounter for our young hero. What's going to happen to Percy now that he has met other demigods? How will the other demigods react to Percy? Read on to find out!**

An awkward silence filled the clearing as Percy and his mom sat across from the three demigod children that had stumbled into the clearing. Well…it was awkward for the kids, Percy and the one with the electric blue eyes especially seeing as the two were both blushing like mad. Percy's mom just thought the entire encounter was hilarious; especially the part where Percy and that girl just stared at each other until the girls friends snapped her out of it. After making sure that her son was ok, Serena promptly laughed at him, doubling over in laughter. That was about five minutes ago, and now that the laughter at his expense was over he began to inspect the three new comers.

Sitting directly in front of Percy, a boy with sandy blond hair and blue eyes sat staring at him in with a gaze filled with apprehension. He was dressed in a pair of worn blue jean pants, black sneakers, and a red t-shirt. His right hand subconsciously played with the hilt of the…golf club…..yeah golf club he had strapped to his side. He seemed to be the leader of the trio by the way the other two would occasionally glance in his direction as if trying to see how he wanted to play the situation. Percy decided he would break the ice so he leaned forward and stuck his hand out towards the boy and spoke in a happy tone,

"Hey! My names Percy Jackson. Who are you guys? And what are you guys doing out here?"

The boy looked at his hand for a few moments as if trying to gauge if the offering was a trap of some sort, and then relented and stuck his own hand out and shook Percy's before replying,

"I'm Luke Castellan; fourteen year old son of Hermes, the blond to my right is…"

The girl in question interrupted before Luke could continue his introduction.

"I'm Annabeth Chase; daughter of Athena, seven years old. What are you and your mom, who is a nature spirit, doing in the middle of the forest? Why don't you have a shirt on? You guys live here right? If your mom is a nature spirit is your dad human? Or is he a god? What's with the scars? Do you know who…"

Percy could only stare in shock at the little seven year old girl as she rattled off question after question. Her storm grey eyes were boring into his toxic green searching for answers. One of her hands fiddled with a small bronze knife tied to her jean shorts while the other tugged at the hem of her white shirt.

The final member of their group slapped a hand over Annabeth's mouth before more questions could waterfall out of her mouth. She, at least according to Percy, was the most interesting of the three. She was wearing a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath it, ripped black jeans and matching converse. On her left wrist was a strange looking silver wristband, and the right was a small container of sorts. All in all, she interested Percy. She looked up at Percy with her striking eyes through the bangs of her short, spiky, black hair and a light blush splashed across her freckled cheeks before she grinned sheepishly and spoke.

"Sorry about that. Daughter of the wisdom goddess and all so she tends to get a bit…inquisitive. Anyways, I'm Thalia, no sure name, ten year old daughter of Zeus. Though Annabeth does raise a fair point, how old are you, and are you a demigod or a nature spirit? Your skin isn't exactly blue like miss…"

"Serena," Percy's mom interjected with a light chuckle, "And no he is no nature spirit. I adopted little Percy two years ago when he was eight. As for whom his father is..."

The hair on the back of Percy's neck stood on end and he held his right hand up causing everyone to fall silent. His left slowly slid into his pocket and pulled out a large wrist band that had some sort of contraption strapped to the top of it. He slid it on his right hand then reached back into his pocket, retrieving a smooth, black rock. His mom having sensed the presence Percy had, but unsure what exactly it was, ushered the trio a few feet away to the water's edge. Percy waited silently as he slowly loaded the contraption, which the others figured out was a wrist mounted slingshot, and aimed it into the forest in front of him. Rustling could be heard getting louder and louder as the bushes began to sway sporadically.

Everyone tensed and Annabeth and Luke gripped their weapons while Thalia gripped her container. The bushes suddenly stopped rustling and a tense silence filled the clearing. Everyone was on edge, when suddenly…a small white rabbit burst forth from the clearing edge.

The rigidness left everyone's bodies as the saw what had gotten them all so worked up, and Luke chuckled out,

"What's wrong Percy? Afraid the big bad rabbit is gonna…"

A bloodcurdling roar echoed throughout the clearing and a massive black creature burst forth from behind the rabbit, streaking towards the group. Percy's vision tunneled and his body froze in shock. The stench of rotten flesh assaulted his nostrils, but he still didn't move. The massive beast's dull, unkempt, midnight fur rippled with power as its jagged claws tore at the earth. Its roaring maw was lined with razor sharp, needle like teeth and flames could be seen dancing in the beast's throat. Percy's gaze had locked onto the beasts, Percy's green met the beast's red, and he was petrified. He had trained for two whole years for this moment, but no amount of training could've prepared him for the real thing, no amount of preparation could prepare him for a Hellhound attack.

Percy would've died had it not been for the quick thinking of Thalia and Luke. Just as the beast was in striking distance, Thalia appeared and slammed a silver shield into the Hellhound's side as Luke tackled Percy out of harm's way. Luke pulled him up, and shoved him towards where Annabeth and his mother were standing,

"Get back Percy! Me and Thalia will handle this!" he shouted before he joined Thalia, who was holding off the massive beast with a spear and shield.

Luke charged forward and smacked the Hellhound in its right flank with a powerful overhead strike while it was lunging at Thalia. Had he had an actual celestial bronze weapon then the attack would've wounded the beast, but armed with a golf club he barely even hurt it. The hound whirled around and lunged at Luke, its maw widened so it could tear into him. Luke barely managed to dodge the attack, diving under the attack and where Thalia stood before she lunged forward to capitalize on the distraction Luke made. The two fell into a rhythm while they fought the beast. Thalia would defend from the brunt of the monsters attacks while Luke would skirt around the edges drawing the beast attention with quick hits. Then while the monster was distracted Thalia would go in for an attack.

Percy could only watch on in amazement, hatred, and disappointment. Amazement at how well Thalia and Luke fought together, Thalia obviously knew what she was doing with her shield and spear and Luke was quick on his feet and agile. The hatred and disappointment was aimed at himself. He was supposed to be the one who protected his mom. He'd trained all those days, worked hard from sunrise to sunset teaching himself to fight, how to use his water powers, how to be a hero. Then the day comes where he sees his first monster and what does he do? He froze in terror. His hands curled into fists so hard his knuckles turned white and his fingernails broke the skin on his palm causing blood to slowly drip to the ground beside him. He could feel the tears of shame and anger welling in his eyes. He was no hero, no warrior. He was just a scarred little demigod who couldn't even fight one monster. Percy's attention shifted back to the fight at hand as things quickly turned from bad to worse. Luke had distracted the beast once again and Thalia using that moment jabbed her spear point towards the hound's neck hoping for a one hit kill. The beast sensing the imminent danger whirled its head around and bit into the spear's shaft.

Thalia tried to hold onto her spear, but the beast shook its head and ripped the weapon from her grip. It bit down and snapped the spear in half then turned to growl at the group. Thalia and Luke backed up towards each other, fear evident in their eyes as they tried to find some way to defeat the beast. Thalia still held up her shield defiantly which served to keep the beast from outright slaughtering them at the moment, but that would only hold it off for so long.

"This isn't looking so good Luke," panted Thalia as she eyed the beast as it began to pad closer and closer, one massive paw at a time. It had them cornered and it knew it so it was taking its time.

"I know Thalia…you might have to do the thing," he replied.

"I can't I don't have enough energy left to pull it off, and even if I did last time I was out for a few days. If that were to happen with me slowing us down we'd get killed."

"We don't really have another choice do we."

The hound chose that moment to attack, charging forward at the two as Thalia raised her shield, bracing for impact. Percy reached deep within him and prepared to launch several spears of water, tired of sitting on the sidelines and feeling weak.

Five well placed arrows made sure that moment never came.

The Hellhound crashed to the floor and began to dissolve as everyone in the clearing visibly deflated; Percy sighed and let the tugging in his gut go as the danger passed. That was twice in the span of five minutes that he'd been saved. Twice in five minutes that he'd been made to feel weak. A frown etched itself on his face, while everyone else sported relieved smiles as their saviors made themselves known. Two dozen silver clad girls entered into the clearing, each with a bow in hand searching for more danger.

"Lower your bows girls, there are no threats in the immediate area," Spoke a young girl silver eyed, auburn haired girl clad in a similar outfit as the rest as she entered from the clearings edge behind the rest, an aura of authority surrounding her.

Confusion marred the face of the kids as the girl approached the group, but Serena knew very well who this seemingly young girl was. She walked to the front of the group and bowed causing the kids to look at her with question in their eyes.

"Hello Lady Artemis," spoke Serena, causing the others to gasp in shock.

They couldn't quite believe what they were hearing. This girl, who was their age, was Artemis the goddess of the hunt? No way that was true.

"You're Artemis?" asked Annabeth, unsure of how a girl only a few years her senior could be a goddess.

"Rise water nymph," Artemis spoke, "and yes young maiden I am indeed Artemis. I choose this appearance to be closer to the girls in my hunt."

Annabeth nodded her head in acceptance while Artemis turned and spoke to a huntress with a tiara on her head,

"Zoe have the girls set up camp. I have a feeling we will have a few monsters to hunt in the area within the hour."

She turned back towards the group with a stern expression on her face, " Now one of you explain to me what you four demigods be doing in the woods so far away from camp half-blood, and why a Hellhound was tracking you."

**Aaannd done. Things are heating up for the young demigods with the arrival of the hunters. It seems whatever's chasing the trio is catching up, and their survival just might depend on help from the man hating goddess. There is more in store for our young heroes, and a battle will be fought. More shall be revealed in the next chapter of Hydromancer!**

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	5. The Strength In My Tears

**Hello All! Here comes the latest installment of Hydromancer! I would really appreciate you guys leaving a review after you read the chapter to let me know what you guys are thinking so don't hesitate to do so! Anyways, we left off last chapter with a surprise encounter with the Hunters of Artemis, and encroaching enemies. How will Percy and the others react with having a bunch of man hating women surrounding them? What are they going to do about the monsters that are sure to come? Read on to find out!**

Percy found out relatively quickly that Artemis and the Hunters didn't like him or Luke all that much. That was fine by him, the feeling was mutual. When Luke tried to explain to Artemis They treated him like he was scum on the bottom of their boots. When Luke tried to explain what they were doing there, Artemis cut him off with a look that promised pain if he continued and asked for one of the girls to explain. While their situation was being explained by Thalia and Serena, Percy was looking around at the girls who were quickly setting up a camp. They all sneered him and from what he could tell Luke with obvious distaste.

'Geez, what's their problem? I've never even met theme before and they're acting like I kick puppies,' Percy thought angrily, 'Seriously what's their deal?'

"Pay attention boy! I'm not going to repeat myself!" commanded Artemis, bringing Percy's attention back to the conversation happening around him.

"Now, from what I've gathered is that you three," she said while pointing at Thalia, Annabeth, and Luke, "Arrived not long before us on your way to Camp Half-Blood while you," she said pointing at Percy, "Have been living here with the Naiad for the past two years. What brought you here?"

Everyone but Serena, who had a sad expression, looked at Percy in curiosity as a dark look passed through his eyes as they darkened.

"My asshole of a step-father," he replied getting surprised looks from the three demigods.

A look of recognition and sympathy flashed into Artemis' eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came as she replied, "Understood, now you four need to get to camp. Unfortunately we cannot accompany you. We will be here fending of the monsters in the area and protecting the water nymph."

Percy whipped his head around and looked at his mom who was staring at the ground in sadness. He turned back to Artemis and spoke,

"Wh-What no. What are you talking about staying to protect mom? She's coming with us! Right mom...mom?"

Serena looked up into Percy's sad, panicked eyes and could feel her heart breaking. She knew she couldn't leave her lake, she was bound to protect it, but the heartbroken look in her son's eyes would be something she never forgot. She walked forward, crouched down in front of Percy, and opened her arms. Percy rushed into her arms hugging her tightly, a hug she returned with equal ferocity. He couldn't believe it. He'd just gotten his new mom, and now he had to leave her. He'd already lost his first mom. He didn't want to lose this one too. He loosened his grip and leaned back to look into her ocean blue eyes,

"You're coming with us right? She was lying saying you were staying here right?"

"I'm so sorry son…but I can't leave. This is my lake I have to protect it at all costs, I can't go with you," she replied sadly, "But you have to leave. That vile man's scent has faded, and yours is strong enough that they will be here within the hour, and the safest place for you right now is with those three at that camp Lady Artemis was talking about."

Before Percy could reply Artemis hammered the final nail in the proverbial coffin.

"Your scent would put your mother in more danger if you were here. It really is better off if you weren't here."

That comment hit Percy right in the core of his being. His very presence put his mother's life in danger. He couldn't protect his mom from the Hellhound, and now if he stayed he'd only continue to put his mom's life in peril from creatures he couldn't protect her from. The situation was overwhelming Percy. He looked around and saw the sympathetic looks from the trio of demigods and the impassive stare of Artemis. He couldn't take it, he needed to get away. Percy could feel the tears welling in his eyes, but he forced them down. If it was the only successful thing he did in this situation, he refused to let them see him cry.

A sad smile settled on his face before he looked up and at Thalia and spoke,

"Let me know when we're leaving, I need to go…" his voice gradually became quieter until he stopped speaking and walked towards the clearing edge.

Thalia was about to follow after him, but a hand on his shoulder stopped her. She looked up at Serena, who gave her a sad shake of the head before speaking,

"It's best if you leave him alone for now," she said with a defeated tone, "He needs to accept this situation. Plus when he gets like this he normally shuts everyone out so there'd be no point in trying to talk to him. Trust me I know," she muttered the last part in a sad whisper.

As Percy walked ignoring the glares of hatred locked onto him from the hunters he heard Artemis address the group,

"Come, from what it looks like you could use some weapons."

Percy broke through the clearings edge and continued on into the forest. He walked a few more feet out and then just plopped down on the ground. He didn't know how long he sat there, but the entire time his mind had been in turmoil. The loyalty in his heart was screaming at him to stay behind and protect his mom, but the logic in his mind was telling him that leaving her was the best choice with the evidence he was presented. Percy slowly inhaled then held his breath for a few moments then released it. He knew what he would do. He would leave in order to protect his mom, no matter how much it would kill him.

He sat there for another ten minutes, his mind skimming many different topics but never staying long enough to give it deep thought, until he heard rustling from behind him. Shifting so he could react just in case it was an enemy he watched as an irritated Thalia stomped her way towards him with a silver pack slung across her back. Percy seriously hoped she wasn't mad at him, his mom angry was terrifying enough, but a pissed of daughter of the sky god wasn't something he wanted to be on the wrong side of. When Thalia reached Percy she instead of being on the receiving end of her wrath she just sat down next to him on his right side, their arms almost touching.

Percy was happy that she wasn't mad at him, but now was curious as to why Thalia was angry. He kind of didn't want to ask though with how she was angrily muttering to herself. Steeling himself he leaned to the right slightly, bumping Thalia and getting her attention. She stopped her mutterings and looked over at Percy seeing the question in his eyes before he could speak. Her frown warped into a soft smile before she addressed Percy,

"Don't worry I'm fine," She said answering his question, "Just a little…disagreement with the hunters."

Before Percy could inquire what the disagreement was about Thalia continued speaking,

"They want me to join the hunt. Their lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade, tried to convince me to join. You know you have to swear off the company of all men to be in the hunt? Yeah she told me Luke was going to disappoint me one day and that he wasn't worth it, but he's like my brother I can't abandon him."

For some odd reason, hearing that Thalia only thought of Luke as a brother made Percy's heart skip with joy. The thought of them together had irritated him sense they stumbled into his clearing. Breaking free of his mental musing he returned to the conversation.

"Plus I just met you, and…for some reason…I feel like were connected somehow," she explained with a light blush and a small smile on her face, "You're a very interesting person, and even though we've only really spoken to each other for a grand total of like ten minutes…I don't think I could leave you either."

Now that made Percy's heart skip a beat as he flushed a deep red. Having lived the life he had lived, he hadn't had much contact with the female population. The only ones he really knew personally would be his moms. So when Thalia, not only a girl but admittedly an attractive in a punk rockish kind of way girl, said she had an interest in him his brain shut down for a few seconds. Thalia grew worried as Percy just started at her with a bewildered look and a large blush on his face.

"Percy…are you ok!? What's going on!?"

Thalia's voice knocked him out of his stupor and he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand while a large cheesy grin spread across his face. He chuckled before he replied.

"I'm alright Thalia, just surprised sense well…no girl besides my mom has complimented me before." He explained getting a questioning look from the girl, "Had to be cute too," he muttered the last part out quietly to himself, but Thalia heard and it was her turn to sport a large red blush.

It was her turn to be shocked. No boy before Percy had ever really complimented her either, they always thought she was dangerous, which she was but still, and didn't want to be around her or thought she was just a creepy Goth girl. Fighting down the embarrassment while listening to Percy's amused snickers, Thalia pulled the silver bag off of her back and opened it up. Percy's joyful expression turned sour at the bag. He knew if she had that out then not only was their moment at an end, but so was his stay at the lake he'd regained his childhood at. Thalia reached in and pulled out two large silver hunting knives. She turned and held them out to Percy.

"These are yours. Well they're mine, but I've got my shield and my spear so I don't really need them," she explained.

Percy took the hunting knives and noticed how well-crafted and sharp the blades were. He smiled. He liked these; they would go well with his fighting style as long as he doesn't freeze up like last time. No, he refused to be weak in front of anyone ever again he declared mentally as he stood. He was wondering where he was going to put the knives when they turned into two silver rings that occupied his middle fingers. He grinned widely.

'Oh, I have a feeling these are going to come in handy,' he thought.

He heard a small cough from his right and turned to see Thalia holding out a silver jacket and matching hunting boots with a light blush on her face once more.

"You should also probably put some clothes on since it's time to go. A few hunters almost killed you when they saw you in just a pair of shorts."

He paled lightly and took the offered clothing and threw them on quickly, opting to leave the jacket unzipped so he could have some freedom. Satisfied with the clothes, he and Thalia started walking back towards the clearing, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her before they got entered.

She turned to look at him, wondering what he was doing when he surprised her with a hug, both parties blushing madly. Flustered, Thalia accidentally forced her lightning powers to surface over her skin, giving Percy a light shock that caused him to leap back in surprise. Thalia ran over to him and began checking him over.

"Oh Gods are you ok!? I didn't hurt you did…"

Percy stopped her by poking her in the forehead and grinning while he replied,

"Relax sparky, I'm ok. No harm done."

A look of relief showed on her face before one of irritation replaced it. She jabbed her finger into his chest with a little added jolt to get her point across, the wince on his face evident that it did.

"DO NOT CALL ME SPARKY!" she hissed before she turned and walked into the clearing.

Percy couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth as he watched Thalia storm off in annoyance. He quickly followed after her, slightly unnerved at the quickness the hunt turned to glare daggers at him. He wasn't going to worry about them at the moment however. He was more focused on the fact that he was about to leave his mom. The thought sobered him, but it wasn't like he couldn't come back. He would go to this Camp Half Blood and become stronger and stronger until he became the greatest hero that ever existed. Then he would come back to see his mom. Once he was absolutely sure that he could visit her without her being in any danger, he would come back.

He looked and saw Thalia back with Luke and Annabeth, who were talking in hushed tones. Luke was sporting a similar silver pack as Thalia and Annabeth. Instead of a golf club he now had a standard bronze sword strapped to his side, while Annabeth was fiddling with a small silver bow, turning it over and examining it closely as if to find any secrets it hid. Further behind them he saw his intended target at the moment, his mom sitting by the lake with Artemis. The look on their faces seemed to show that they were having a pleasant chat. He almost hated to ruin it….almost. He walked up and the effect his presence had was instantaneous. His mother smiled at him, a smile laced with both happiness and sadness. Artemis' face adopted a cold visage while a few hunters appeared out of nowhere. The one he'd seen before with the silver tiara glared at him vehemently and practically yelled,

"What do thou think thou art doing approaching Lady Artemis so casually?!"

Artemis held up her hand and spoke before Percy could reply,

"It's alright Zoe, I'm sure the boy was just here to say goodbye to his mother."

"B-but milady!?"

"All is well Zoe. Let us give them some privacy," she said calmly before standing to turn and walk away, but not before she took note of the silver rings on Percy's fingers and gave a last parting comment, "Make sure you use those weapons well boy. I wouldn't want to have to pry them from your corps later on if you don't make it."

"Ok," Percy muttered once Artemis was out of ear shot, "You are my least favorite god."

He turned to his mom and the two locked gazes, his bright green to her sea blue. No words needed to be spoken. The two already knew whatever the other had to say to each other. Serena smiled as tears began to spill from her eyes and she held out her arms. Percy walked forward into the embrace and the two hugged one another with a love only a mother and a son could feel for each other. Tears were falling from Percy's eyes now as he backed up and looked at his mom for the last time. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his slingshot. He held it out to his mom who took it gingerly before putting it in her pocket. She in turn held her hand out above the water and a few seconds later a necklace with bluish silver metal with a matching sea blue medallion erupted from the water into Serena's waiting hand. She stepped forward and draped it over his neck and then kissed him on the forehead. She stepped back and began to walk into the water as the tears continued to fall.

"Fight Percy," she said as she continued to descend, "Fight and don't you dare die. You understand me?"

Percy nodded and she began walking once more, but before her head disappeared beneath the water Percy looked her in the eyes, the tears running down his face only highlighting his determination, and spoke to his mom for the very last time,

"Once I'm the strongest I can ever be…I'll be back mom. I'll be back and nothing will stop me."

Serena smiled; her first genuinely happy smile the entire time the Hellhound had attacked, and shook her head.

'Of course you will,' she thought to herself as she fully submerged herself in the lake, 'Because you're my son, and my son is powerful already.'

Percy wiped the tears from his face, and turned towards the group of demigods to see the looks of sadness they were giving him while in the background the hunt looked impassive. He began to walk forward, and as he walked he vowed silently to himself,

'No more. No more tears. No more crying,' he chanted in his head, 'That is the last time I let anyone see me cry. From now on I will be strong.'

**No more tears. Percy has vowed to become the strongest demigod of all. Now that his journey has truly begun what does the fates have in store for Percy and the gang? Where will Percy's journey lead him? Will they even make it to camp? You'll just have to continue reading in the next chapter of Hydromancer! **

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	6. Raging Storm

**Hello All! Here comes the latest installment of Hydromancer! I would really appreciate you guys leaving a review after you read the chapter to let me know what you guys are thinking so don't hesitate to do so! Anyways, we left off last chapter with the beginning of the Percy and the trio's journey to Camp Half Blood. What kind of opposition will be faced along the way? Read on to find out!**

Percy at the age of ten is used to waking up in places he doesn't remember going to sleep in before. He'd woken up in alleyways, parks, and forests. He'd woken up on the floor outside of his apartment and even in the bathtub once. Hades, two years ago he'd woken up under water in a lake! He'd thought it couldn't get any weirder than that, but apparently the fates loved proving him wrong. As his toxic green eyes opened he quickly realized he was under water once again, but he wasn't in any lake, or river, or even ocean. He was in some sort of giant water bubble in the middle of a white room, a worried Thalia glancing at him periodically. The sleeves of her leather jacket ripped off and her arms covered in bandages along with a small Band-Aid on her cheek that Percy thought looked cute.

It wasn't until Percy looked up that he realized how deep the shit he was in was. Around his makeshift aquarium the twelve Olympians sat peacefully, well as peacefully as an Olympian council could be. He recognized all of them from what his mom had told him about them. Artemis was sitting in her throne, obviously uncaring as to why she was there, Apollo was reclined in his throne listening to an IPod, Persephone and Demeter were seated next to each other while talking in hushed tones. Percy turned and saw Aphrodite smiling at him and Thalia, and wanting to be polite he smiled and waved back getting a wave and giggle from the goddess. Thalia saw the exchange and frowned slightly, for some reason she didn't quite like that. Athena, Dionysus, Hermes, Ares, were all looking behind Percy, some in amusement, Hermes and Ares, while others in exasperation. Percy turned in his water bubble and nearly shit himself. Right in front of him Poseidon, his father, was in a three sided argument with Hades and Zeus, and Percy had a feeling he and Thalia had something to do with that. Percy couldn't help but remember the event that led to his current predicament.

**FLASHBACK (Three Days Ago):**

Large grey clouds blanketed the once bright sky, and the distant roll of thunder reached the demigods ears. A storm was coming. The clouds would burst soon, which made the group all the more eager to leave the dimly lit forest and reach the camp.

"We should be getting close," muttered Luke from the front as the group made their way through the forest. Being the eldest of the demigods, he was made the unofficial leader in this situation, "With no stops we should arrive at Camp Half Blood in about thirty minutes or so."

Annabeth was behind Luke in the middle of the group since she was the youngest and most vulnerable with Percy and Thalia bringing up the rear. Thalia was snickering lightly at Percy's irritated expression. She flicked his nose and his hand shot up to cover it while he growled playfully at her.

"So let me get this right," Thalia spoke quietly, "You've never heard music before?"

"Well…yeah," he replied, and her expression turned to shock and he playfully shoved her, "What? I've been in the woods for the past two years so excuse me."

"Gods, when we get to camp I'm gonna introduce you to an IPod," she laughed.

"Ok," Percy said, pausing before continuing, "What's an IPod?"

Thalia stopped walking and just stared at Percy as if he lit a puppy on fire, While Percy just stared at her in confusion. She shook her head at him and grabbed his hand pulling him forward so they could catch up with the others.

"You have to be one of the weirdest kids I've ever met," she laughed.

"Oh hush Sparky my entire life has been weird," he replied.

Thalia's reaction was instantaneous, using the hand that was holding Percy's she channeled her energy and shocked him. Then whirled around and glared at him, though it looked more like a pout with the blush on her face, and whispered venomously,

" . .Sparky."

Percy just chuckled and scratched the back of his head. A loud cough interrupted the two and they looked forward to see Luke and Annabeth looking at them annoyed. It was Annabeth who spoke first,

"You two do realize we could be potentially killed at any moment right?"

Percy let out a sigh, and pointed his deadpanned stare at Annabeth.

"Great now you've jinxed us," he said as everyone stared at him.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I am fully aware of our situation and was attempting to lighten the mood," he said pointing at Thalia when he said that, "But now you've gone and jinxed us. I wouldn't be surprised if we were attacked soon."

"Percy," Luke said, "That doesn't really make any sense."

"Of course it does, this entire two hours we've been walking not one monster has attacked because we haven't been thinking about it, but now that you have so blatantly talked about us getting killed they'll probably be here soon."

"No it doesn't," Annabeth replied, "It's been on my mind the entire time and it hasn't happened. It has nothing to do with you not thinking about it. They haven't attacked yet simply because they aren't around."

"This whole argument is stupid," said Luke, "We need to get moving before we really do get killed."

"Ohhh careful," Thalia gasped in mock horror, "You just jinxed us too! Now we really will get attacked!"

A large hellhound burst forth from the foliage behind Thalia, its mouth gaped prepared to rip into her flesh. Percy's quick reaction saved Thalia as he tackled her to the ground so that the beast flew over the top of her in front of a sword brandishing Luke, who'd jumped in front of Annabeth. Pulling Thalia up, Percy clenched his fists and the silver hunting knives appeared in his hands. Thalia's spear and shield quickly appeared in her hands. The hound lunged at Luke who grabbed Annabeth and dodged rolled to the right landing next to a tree. Thalia charged her spear with electricity and jabbed at the beast unprotected flank. It spun around dodging the strike and retaliated with a swipe at Thalia's left side. Thalia quickly brought up her shield saving her life and blocking the strike, but the sheer force of the attack knocked the wind out of her and launched her through the air.

Percy dove and caught the falling demigod in his outstretched arms cushioning the impact. He looked over at the beast to see Luke holding it back with the sword, his strikes quick and deadly from years of fending for his life, but something caught his eye. Behind Annabeth, who was standing a few feet behind Luke, another hellhound, this one smaller than the other, was skulking through the undergrowth about to strike! Percy needed to act fast. He was a few feet away; he would make it in time to stop it but just barely. He streaked forward and just as he reached the halfway point the beast launched itself.

"Annabeth behind you!" Percy yelled.

Annabeth rolled to her left towards Percy dodging the incoming Hellhound, its massive paws causing a resounding thud when they landed on the frozen ground. Percy streaked past the seven year old, and using his momentum leapt up and kicked the beast in the muzzle. The attack stunned the hound momentarily and Percy used this time to put his hunting knives to good use. He dove forward and reversed his grip on the knives so that he know held them with the blade pointing behind him. Just as he reached his destination he launched himself upwards throwing his right hand up in a literal uppercut. The Hellhound jerked backwards and nearly dodged Percy's attack, but the tip of his blade bit into the hound's eye, slicing the acrid flesh in two and blinding the beasts left eye.

Blood exploded from the wound and the beast roared in pain and anger. It began swiping at Percy in a blind fury, its attacks filled with power. One hit would be all it took to take him out of commission. Putting years of training his speed and agility through water skating to use, Percy began to dodge. He'd duck one blow then leap over another only to lean back to avoid yet another strike. This continued on for what seemed like forever for Percy, this deadly dance between predator and prey, but he had to wait for an opening. He couldn't afford to get even once, a hit meant death, and he promised his mom he wouldn't die. A few more dodges and that's when he saw it. Every few swipes it would hesitate very briefly. That was when he would strike. He probably wouldn't get another chance at this so he had to strike fast. So he bide his time and just dodged.

'Wait for it…wait for it,' he muttered as he slid under another swipe, 'Wait for…NOW!'

Just as he finished dodging the latest strike he launched forward and struck, his silver hunting knife shooting forward like quicksilver. It impacted the Hellhound's throat and immediately bit through its flesh. He could feel the knife tearing its way through the beasts flesh, but with resistance that might stop him. Percy couldn't afford to fail. A roar bubbled up from his chest and he forced the blade all the way through, decapitating the beast. The beast's head fell to the floor and rolled while the rest of it stood completely still. A few seconds later and both parts exploded into a fine golden powder that fell all around Percy. Tiredness caught up with Percy as he stood panting. He turned to see how the others had fared against the other Hellhound. His gaze quickly fell on three very shocked demigods.

The others had combined their efforts to take out the larger hellhound in time to see Percy dodging the other hound. They were transfixed with the fluidity of how he dodged the beast's strikes, like water he just flowed between the strikes. They were worried when he didn't attack though and were about to aid him when they saw him jump forward decapitate the beast in one strike. They couldn't help but stare at Percy in shock. Seeing that the danger was gone Percy decided to speak,

"See didn't I tell you that you guys would jinx us!" he yelled.

Annabeth blushed in embarrassment and muttered and apology while the others just shook their head at him. The group began to walk towards their destination once again, thankful that Percy had attempted to break the tension but still on edge. If they had just been attacked by two hellhounds, then that means more monsters would be in the area and on the way. The silence was deafening as they made their way through the forest. The forest was alive with absolute silence, not even the noise of the insects or birdsong, just the sound of a storm brewing over head, and the sound of impending doom. Finally after twenty minutes of walking the group made it out of the forest and before them the saw Half Blood Hill. With a cheer they began trudging up the hill as the storm broke and fat drops of rain began to pour from the skies. The rain quickly soaked everyone but Percy, though no one seemed to notice he was bone dry. A tingling feeling in the back of Luke's neck made him look back, and he went white as a ghost.

"Guys," he whispered, "We need to run. Now."

They looked at him and immediately became tense at how white he looked. Once they turned their heads they turned the same shade he did. At the forest edge where they emerged stood thirty or so Hellhounds. A flash of lightning illuminated the dark forest and the demigods hearts stopped, behind the thirty visible stood a virtual army of Hellhounds. Everyone looked to the top of the hill and realized they were too far away. They would be overtaken before they reached the top.

Percy knew the only way that they would survive would be if someone held off the attacking monsters while the others went to get help. He looked at the grim faces and knew they had probably come to a similar conclusion. He looked up into the storming sky and suddenly his mind cleared. The storm, the storm was a sign. It was him. He knew it had to be him. The rain from the storm had invigorated him, he felt like he could take on an army, a good thing at the moment. He knew he had to hold them off so the others could get to safety. He clenched his fists, and his silver hunting knifes appeared.

"Percy don't be an idiot," Thalia whispered in fear seeing Percy take out his weapons, "There is no way we can fight that! We have to go get help."

"We'll get overrun before we reach camp. Someone has to stay and hold them off for as long as possible so you guys can get help."

As much as she and the group didn't want to believe it, they knew Percy's words were true; someone wasn't going to make it to camp. Percy turned to them and grinned despite the severity of the situation.

"Don't worry about me, just go get help. I'll still be here by the time you get back."

Luke sighed then grabbed Annabeth's arm, "Fine I and Annabeth will go, but you better be here when we get back Percy."

"Count on it," he said in affirmation, then he turned to Thalia and saw she had her weapons at the ready, "Thalia what are you…"

"If you're staying then so am I. I'm not going to leave you to an army."

Percy sighed as he glanced at her stubborn face, "Fine. Two children of the big three against an army? Seems about even."

Before the others could even begin to ponder Percy's statement a loud symphony of roars erupted from the army. The monsters wouldn't wait any longer. The Hellhounds began to charge from the forest as Luke and Annabeth ran to get help and Percy and Thalia stood ready.

"Percy," Thalia yelled over the pounding of the storm and roars, "What did you mean by Two children of the big three?"

Percy just grinned even wider, and he reached within himself to the core of his power. He felt the familiar tug in his gut, and thrust his arms up. Faster than the beasts could react, eight large tendrils of water exploded into existence, forming from the water on the ground and the still falling rain. They began to chaotically swing around knocking monsters into oblivion. Thalia just looked at Percy in shock as he panted from fatigue that was quickly being taken care of by the rain. He gave her a crocked grin and said,

"Son of the sea god at your service."

Thalia fixed him with a stern glare that let him know they were going to talk about this later, and then turned to face the horde. Percy's attack had taken out many of the beasts, but a large number still remained. Three leapt forward at the duo having dodged through the water tentacles of destruction and was intercepted by Thalia. She lashed out with her shield arm at the first one, knocking it back into one of the second. The third lunged at Thalia while she dodged back and, charging her spear with so much lightning it became visible, jabbed it forward at the beast. It struck home in the hound's shoulder electrocuting the beast then arcing of into the other two hounds. The lightning was even more effective due to the water from the storm. The Hellhounds exploded into gold dust that was instantly washed away by the storm.

The two fell into their roles and held their own. Percy used his water manipulation to wreck the majority of the army, and the ones that slipped through the cracks were dealt with by Thalia, but Percy and Thalia were growing tired. The water could only do so much for Percy and he was running out of energy, and there were starting to be too many hounds slipping through for Thalia to handle.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled, "We need something or were not gonna last till reinforcements arrive!"

Percy fighting the fatigue that had been creeping into his body for the past few minutes nodded his head. He knew if they continued as they were they would die. He had an idea. Something he had tried to do a year ago, but knocked himself out with fatigue at how difficult it was. With the storm he thought he'd be able to pull it off. It was either that or die a painful death.

"Thalia I'm dropping the water for a few moments, I need you to hold them off!" he shouted to her as she electrocuted two more Hellhounds.

"What are you going to do!?" she yelled back, dodging a clawed swipe that would've taken her head off.

"Just trust me!" he replied as he let the water drop.

Immediately the army surged forward, a single minded goal to destroy those that were impeding them. Thalia knew of only one thing that could hold back that many monsters. She ran back so she was standing a few feet in front of Percy and deactivated her shield and spear. She closed her eyes and focused hard on the storm above. She could feel the quick metallic feeling of her lightning energy pooling around her hands. She needed every ounce of power she had left to do this. She could hear the beast approaching. Closer.

'Just a little more,'

Closer.

'C'mon'

CLOSER!

"NOW!" she yelled and thrust her arms straight into the air.

Silence reigned as if the heavens heard her plea, and then like divine justice a deadly rain of lightning arced down towards the approaching army. The bolts exploded on impact, destroying scores of Hellhounds. Bolt after bolt rained down, each one sapping more and more of Thalia's energy. Finally all her energy had been spent and the lightning stopped. Half the army lay destroyed, but the rest were quickly regrouping. Thalia felt unconsciousness tugging at her mind, and stumbled backwards. She fell, but instead of the wet earth, she landed in the arms of Percy. The last thing that would register in her conscious mind was his serious face, eyes like pieces of glowing jade, as he laid her down gently, and spoke to her. His words cut through the noise of the storm like a hot knife through butter.

"Don't worry I'll handle the rest."

Percy stood as the monster army regrouped and began their attack once again. He didn't move, he didn't blink; he simply stared at them as they approached. He'd only have one shot to pull this off. He began to swing both his arms around him collecting more and more water with each pass funneling it into a large swirling shape. The shape began to take form, and slowly a large water dragon appeared from the water. Not wasting any time he thrust his arms high into the air and the dragon responded flying high into the sky growing larger as it collected more and more water. The Hellhounds were almost upon him. He threw his arms down. The giant elemental streaked down to earth and ripped through the ranks of the Hellhounds sending them in a blind panic as they watched their brethren die easily at the hands of the water beast. Percy swooped his arms up and the dragon responded ascending into the sky. He brought them back down in a slashing motion and the process was repeated.

Like a composer of a macabre melody he conducted the water dragon in its mission of destruction. In a matter of minutes the army was reduced to wet clumps of golden dust, and Percy let his arms drop. Without his control the water dragon fell to the ground, deforming as it did, and upon its impact washed the powdery remains of the monster army down the hill. Percy felt his legs giving out underneath him and fell to his knees, his head lolled down so he was looking at the unconscious Thalia. He turned to look up the hill and saw a group of around fifty people all staring at him in shock, Luke and Annabeth in the forefront with a centaur. Percy turned back to Thalia, and smiled. They had done it. They reached camp, albeit with some complications, but the made it. He could feel unconsciousness claiming him. He closed his eyes and let himself drift. He really hoped he didn't wake up in the underworld.

**FLASHBACK END:**

Looking around now, Percy wondered if the underworld was worse than this. He swam over to the edge where Thalia was standing and held his hand out. Getting the message, she reached in and after getting a grip on his hand pulled him out onto the ground. The minute his feet impacted the ground all noise in the throne room ceased to exist and all eyes turned to him and Thalia. Being stared at by the Olympian council was up there with Percy's most terrifying experiences. Zeus raised his hand and a large bolt of lightning appeared, crackling dangerously. He looked directly into Percy's eyes and asked,

"Hello young demigod now that your awake, your existence can be debated."

'…Oh shit….'

**Oh shit indeed! Percy and Thalia fought an army of Hellhounds and lived to tell the tale, however that was nothing compared to the situation they were in now. Their lives hung in the balance, and it would be determined by the Council! What will their fate be? Come back next chapter to find out! **

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	7. Meet The Gods

**Hello All! The latest installment of Hydromancer has arrived! I would really appreciate you guys leaving a review after you read the chapter to let me know what you guys are thinking so don't hesitate to do so! Last chapter we left off with Percy and Thalia's fate being decided by the Olympian council. What do the fates (more like my brain) have in store for the duo? Will they ever make it to Camp Half-Blood? Read on to find out!**

**PREVIOUSLY ON HYDROMANCER:**

"Hello young demigod now that your awake, your existence can be debated."

'…Oh shit….'

**PRESENT TIME:**

Instantly Poseidon's angry shouts filled the throne room as he stood and summoned his trident, slamming the shaft onto the ground shaking the room. Just like that all attention went back to the big three.

"MY SON'S EXISTENCE SHALL BE DEBATED BY NO ONE! HE WILL LIVE AND THAT IS FINAL!" he bellowed at Zeus, who in return stood and shouted right back,

"YOU BROKE THE OATH!"

It was Hades' turn to stand and shout at his brothers,

"YOU BOTH BROKE THE OATH! THEY SHOULD BOTH BE SENTANCED TO DEATH!"

Percy and Thalia paled considerably. Percy was full of sadness and confusion. Put to death? For what? What could they have possibly done to deserve being put to death? Thalia felt the same sadness as Percy, but beneath the sadness she could feel her anger surging through the roof. She'd been through so much, gone so far so she could live safely and happily only to have her fate pondered by beings she just met today? Yeah what's the word she's looking for to explain how she felt about this situation….oh Yeah! Fuck that!

"What do you mean we should be sentenced to death?" She asked with a slight edge to her voice, "What the Hades did we do to deserve death?"

All the gods turned back to the two demigods standing in the room. A few of them looked uncomfortable, namely Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite, but Hades answered her question with a frosty glint in his eyes.

"It's not what you did, it's what you are," he replied with a slight growl, angry at his name being used as a cuss word, "You two are children of Poseidon and Zeus, both of them are under oath not to have any more children along with myself. They obviously broke the oath, so the only way to correct their mistakes is to kill you two."

They saw a few gods nod their heads in approval of Hades' words. Now Percy could feel his anger welling up. A mistake?! They were just mistakes to these gods?! He could feel the bile rising in his throat as he tried to refrain from saying something that would get him killed quicker than he already was going to be. Percy was no fool. Was in a room full of twenty foot super powered beings, the best thing he could do was to hold his tongue. Thalia however, had no qualms with speaking her mind about how she felt about this situation.

"So you're going to kill us just for existing!? For something that's not even our fucking fault!?" she shouted at Hades', ignoring the growing scowl that was covering his face, "How is that even fair!?"

Hades stood and the shadows in the throne room and pointed his hand at Thalia before speaking in an eerily calm tone, "You better watch how you speak in this throne room girl unless you want to meet an unfortunate fate."

Thalia simply glared back at the god of shadows and was about to speak before Zeus beat her to it.

"If you, or any of you, attempt to harm my daughter in this throne room you will feel the full wraith of the skies," he spoke in a dangerous tone.

"The same goes with my son. Harm him and the terror of the storm bringer will be upon you,"

growled Poseidon.

Percy and Thalia could feel their hope slowly rising; they looked at one another and gave each other relieved smiles. Then Percy noticed something over Thalia's shoulder. He pointed and Thalia turned to see what he was pointing at. Back in the corner of the throne room sat a young brunette girl in a plain white dress tending a fire that seemed to shift into different colors of the spectrum. She looked into the flames with a gaze full of hope, yet as the duo looked closer they could see the sadness in their depths. Percy couldn't help but feel sorry for this little girl. She seemed so lonely sitting in the corner by herself. Percy nudged Thalia and nodded slightly towards the girl. She looked towards the gods, and saw that they were all absorbed in the ongoing argument over their lives, all except Aphrodite who was staring at them strangely. When she saw Thalia looking in her direction she simply smiled and nodded. They took that as a go ahead, and snuck over to the corner, which wasn't hard seeing as the gods were too absorbed in their own world.

Percy was the first to speak once they reached their destination, breaking the girl from her thousand yard stare.

"Hey, I'm Percy and that's Thalia. Mind if we sit with you?"

The girl looked up startled, the flames in her eyes startling the two in turn. She stared at the two for a few moments, causing a self-conscious feeling to come over the duo, before they were graced with a warm smile and a nod.

"I wouldn't mind at all young heroes. Anyone is welcome to sit at the hearth whenever they want. It seems like you two could use a little hope right now."

"The…hearth?" asked Percy as the duo sat, clueless as to what that would be; while Thalia had a sneaking suspicion that she knew who they were sitting next to.

"Yes child the hearth," spoke the girl pointing with her coal poker to the fire she was tending, the fire that at the moment was glowing a sad pale blue, "It carries the hopes of everyone within it, though it reacts the most to those who are near it. From it I can tell you two are not exactly feeling very well about life now are you?"

"Why would we," Thalia answered a bit of her old anger and sadness creeping into her voice, tears began to well up in her electric blue eyes, "We fought all this way, fought so hard just to live happily and free of danger, and now the gods want to kill us. If this is the end then what was the point of all this?"

She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees, while the blue fire turned paler. Percy looked at her sadly and pulled her into his right side before speaking to her.

"The point of all this is that we're not going to give up Thalia," Percy said, "I mean sure it was hell to get to camp, and you went through a bunch of crap before you even met me, and the gods are trying to figure out whether to kill us or not, but you can't lose hope. We'll find a way out of this."

She turned to look up into his eyes and saw that he truly believed they would survive this ordeal. The fire in the middle of the group began to change from its pale blue to a shining orange. She was about to ask him how he knew they would make it when the girl spoke up.

"He knows because he has hope. You should never give up hope because without it you can't accomplish anything. Besides, only Hades, Ares, Athena, and Dionysus want you dead. The other's either want you alive or don't care. Trust me, your fathers will not allow you to be killed, Artemis and Aphrodite look like they will protect you too, and I'll vouch for you as well."

"Wait," Percy said, catching what the girl had just said, "Who are you and what do you mean you'll vouch for us? You're only like…eight."

The girl just smiled sadly and poked at the flames in front of her,

"It's not surprising that you don't know who I am as I'm not talked about much even though I have the most important job on Olympus."

Finally it clicked for the two,

"You're Hestia aren't you?" Thalia said, "Yeah your Hestia, goddess of the hearth."

Percy just stared blankly before asking something that he had just thought,

"What's with goddesses and looking like children? Seriously, first Artemis and now you," he asked jokingly, receiving a slap upside his head by Thalia who looked at him with an expression on her face that promised him pain if he didn't shut up.

Hestia just smiled and glowed slightly as her form grew until she was in the form of a woman in her late twenties with the same features and attire as her younger counterpart. A pang of sadness hit Percy as he saw her like this. She reminded him of his mother…both of them. The flames began to reflect his feelings, slowly reverting to the pale blue. Hestia saw his sadness so she got up and walked over to the pair. She sat down on her knees and pulled the pair into a hug. At first the pair stiffened upon contact, but moments later they melted into it. Something about Hestia made them feel safe, warm, and hopeful. They knew she would never hurt them. The group sat like this, embracing each other, for several minutes until a quiet cough grabbed their attention. They turned their heads to see a regular sized Aphrodite looking at them with a smile on her face.

Percy couldn't help but blush at Aphrodite's beauty. She was like a combination of all the most beautiful features women had combined into one. He could understand why she was the goddess of love and beauty. Thalia saw the blush on Percy's face and that odd ugly feeling sprung up inside her again. She really needed to figure out why that happened every time she saw Percy blushing at another girl. Aphrodite looked at Thalia as she was lost in thought. Her smile widened as she felt Thalia's jealousy and her suspicions were confirmed. She couldn't help the large wolf-like grin that spread across her face; unknowingly sending shivers down the demigod's eyes as Hestia just chuckled quietly knowing why Aphrodite was smiling.

"Sorry to disturb you auntie, but the demigod's presence in the spotlight is required once more," spoke Aphrodite.  
>"Understood niece," replied Hestia who gave the children one last hug before giving them some parting words, "Whenever you feel troubled just light a fire and everything will brighten."<p>

The two smiled and nodded before standing to go be stared at by the Olympian Council again. When they returned to the center near Percy's bubble again, they could tell something had changed in the throne room. Sure the bloodlust was still radiating off of Hades, but now it wasn't specifically aimed Percy and Thalia, it was just floating in the air. Aphrodite returned to her throne, growing to her godly size as she did so while Zeus addressed the demigods.

"Thalia my daughter, you will not be killed today," he spoke with obvious happiness in his voice.

"Nor will you my son," said Poseidon with a smile causing Zeus to grumble.

"Yes, but unfortunately some in the council think that you two could be a danger to us,"

Percy raised his eyebrow at this. Them, a danger to twelve ultimo powered beings? Yeah, he didn't see this being true, but didn't want to do anything that would reverse the council's decision to keep him and Thalia alive. He looked around and saw that Hades, Ares, and Athena looking at them.

"So in order to appease them you're going to run one errand for each of the gods," spoke Zeus, bringing a dark smile to Hade's face, "Don't worry it's nothing suicidal. Right?"

Zeus asked that last question with much force while he and Poseidon looked directly at Hades, causing Hades to grudgingly nod his head. Percy looked at Thalia and saw the tired look in her eyes. Honestly, Thalia wanted nothing more than to just stay at Camp Half-Blood and chill for eternity. She'd had enough of monsters for the moments. Percy wanted to focus on getting stronger so he could go back and see his mom, and if this was the only way he could do this then so be it, but he wasn't exactly the happiest about it.

"Fine," Thalia sighed, "Not like we have much of a choice. How long is this going to take?"

"It depends on when the gods call in their favors," spoke Zeus, "So it could last a while."

Thalia and Percy nodded their heads and then she spoke again,

"So can we go now?"

All the gods looked at Zeus and he nodded his head and all of them flashed out besides Artemis, Poseidon, Zeus, and Apollo. Artemis approached the duo before the other gods.

"Boy, no worries your mom is safe. Do not fail her last wish."

She flashed out as Apollo reached the two. He had reverted to human size, and was dressed like a classic Californian guy. Beach blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, adorned in a black t-shirt, swim trunks, and sandals with an iPod in his ears. He smiled a smile so bright that the two had to look away for a moment.

"Sup guys! Don't mind my sister. She's not the easiest to talk to. Trust me, I should know, you know I was watching you guys before that freak storm hit, and I heard something disturbing. Percy is it true that you have never listened to music."

Percy huffed in indignation and replied,

"Yeah what's the problem with that? Jeez…"

He saw the serious look on Apollo and Thalia's face and backed up slightly as the god of music and prophecies replied.

"Everything is the problem with that kid."

He pulled the IPod from his pocket and took the earbuds out and handed them to Percy while Thalia watched on in shock. The god of music just gave Percy his personal IPod. Whoa, she didn't think that that was going happen.

"Take this, kid. You need this more than I do. Not only does it have every song in the world on it divided by genre and century, but it can also turn into any instrument you want to with a thought. Don't worry about me kid, I've got like fourteen of these back in my palace. I'll be seeing you soon kid. Later."

And with that the sun god flashed away leaving the two with the two remaining gods, Zeus and Poseidon, their parents. Percy and Thalia spared each other a glance before they separated and walked towards their respective parents. Percy was nervous as he approached his dad. What was he supposed to say? He didn't have time to ponder any further. He was standing in front of his father. He looked over to see Thalia and Zeus talking quietly amongst each other and looked back at his dad. . He looked like an older version of himself, Shaggy black hair with a black goatee and sea green eyes. He was wearing blue cargo shorts with a white t-shirt and matching sandals. An awkward silence filled the air between them. Percy and Poseidon both opened their mouth to speak at the same time,

"So what's up?"

"How have you been?"

They both stopped talking and blushed slightly at what just happened. Silence filled the air again before Percy and Poseidon burst out laughing. They laughed for a few minutes before him and his father stopped laughing and began to talk for real. Happiness radiated off the two as they conversed about anything and everything, bonding as father and son for the first time ever.

**AT CAMP HALF-BLOOD:**

Luke and Annabeth sat around a campfire with the rest of the campers. There was a sing along taking place, but neither one of them was singing. They were too worried about their friends. When Hermes had suddenly appeared in the infirmary and told that horse guy, Chiron, that the two were needed in the throne room earlier that day they were extremely scared. What could the gods want with them? Worst case scenarios kept running through their heads. They had asked Chiron if he knew what was going on, but he was as clueless as they were.

The sing along was reaching its peak and the two were about to see if they could sneak away somehow when a bolt of lightning struck the ground next to the fire, throwing dust high into the air causing many campers to cough. Voices could be heard through the smoke, voices familiar to Luke and Annabeth.

"Percy would you get off of me!"

"Sure thing lightning bug…"

A smacking noise could be heard followed by a loud yelp.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

When the smoke finally cleared a heavily blushing Thalia could be seen pinned underneath a pouting Percy who sported a large red handprint on the side of his face. The two looked up and Thalia blushed even harder, clearly not expecting an audience. An awkward silence filled the air before it was broken by non-other than Percy.

"Uhhh…..hi…"

**Well that is a wrap my friends. Percy and Thalia are going to have to run errands for the gods. What kind of things will the gods make them do? What is Hades planning? How much time does the duo have before chaos ensues? You'll just have to come back next chapter to find out!**

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	8. Over The Years

**Hello All! The latest installment of Hydromancer has arrived! I would really appreciate you guys leaving a review after you read the chapter to let me know what you guys are thinking so don't hesitate to do so! Well they've made it to camp, but at the price of being summoned by the gods for a favor each! What will be their first task? How will they prepare? Read on to find out!**

Camp Half-Blood lay silent and still as the sun began to crest over the horizon. Summer had just begun the day before and the summer campers were expected to begin showing up as soon as that afternoon, but for now not a soul stirred within the confines of camp. Well, almost none stirred. The sound of footsteps impacting the ground, muffled by the plush grass underfoot, could be heard during these early hours. These footsteps belonged to a young girl with short spikey hair as she walked through the camp on the way to her destination, her electric blue eyes scanning her surroundings. She was humming a tune that had gotten stuck in her head for the past couple of days while absentmindedly twirling a knife around her right hand. A black belt that matched her shirt housed more of these deadly weapons, combined with her faded blue jeans and knee high black boots the girl stood out in the quickly brightening landscape, but she could care less. She refused to wear one of those orange camp T-shirt.

As she approached her destination the faint sounds of water splashing could be picked up by her ears and she couldn't help the smile that slowly spread across her face. That green eyed idiot was always up before the sun rose to train, though she didn't have much room to talk because she only woke an hour later than he did so they could train together. This had been their routine for the past four years. He would wake up for the first hour and practice on his son of Poseidon powers, and then when Thalia came they would work on their agility, strength, speed, and fighting skills together before Percy rested for an hour and Thalia worked on her daughter of Zeus powers. After they were done with their workout they would go on with the normal camp routine of sword duels, deadly rock climbing, and archery. Thalia couldn't help but chuckle when she remembered the archery incident Percy had been involved in. Let's just say that a burnt to the ground big house, a stampede of Pegasus, and fifteen injured campers later, Chiron never trusted Percy with a bow and arrow again.

She turned the corner around the forges and saw Percy on skating on the lake she frowned, not at Percy, at the small group of water nymphs who were sitting on the shore cheering him on. It took all her willpower not to flash fry the group with an overpowered bolt. They had been doing this for the past few months, and Thalia absolutely loathed them for it. She clenched her fists and stomped her way to the shore. The group of girls was too engrossed in watching Percy to hear her approach. He was skating on the surface of the water like he used to when he lived with his mom, but with a twist. He would use his water manipulation to make obstacles and ramps. As she approached she saw him make a loop with a ramp aimed straight in the air. He shot through the loop and launched himself straight into the sky, slowly spinning. As he rotated he saw Thalia standing on the shore and smiled. He created a water slide beneath him aimed in her direction and touched down on his feet.

As he neared ground level he looked over into Thalia's eyes as he slid closer.

'Hehe, it's about time she showed up,' he thought 'Man she looks pissed. Wonder why?'

In his thoughts Percy lost concentration and his feet sunk into the water slightly before he noticed what was happening. He tried to regain control, but with the speed he was going and how deep he slipped into the water it was too late. He lurched forward, throwing his arms out trying to brace for impact, just as he reached the shore in front of Thalia and before she could react slammed into her causing them to tumble to the ground. Percy groaned, his eyes shut tight from pain. He tried to move his arms, but they were pinned by something heavy with his palms facing upwards. He pushed upwards into something soft and heard a gasp. Confused he squeezed slightly and whimper reached his ears this time. Finally, he decided to open his eyes and the first thing he saw was a very red, very pissed Thalia. Percy, somehow still clueless as to what was transpiring, glanced down and saw just what his hands were grasping on to. His hands were firmly grasping onto Thalia's breast. It took a moment for his mind to fully process the situation, but once he did he immediately paled and slowly looked back up at Thalia with a nervous and panicky smile.

"Uhh..h-hey Thalia!" he stuttered out in fear, "Now I know you must be feeling pretty fucking pissed off right now. I understand that, but let's not do anything drastic ok?"

A sickly sweet grin spread across the still blushing Thalia's face as she sat up, straddling Percy so he couldn't escape. She cracked her knuckles as electricity started to jump off of her fists.

"Oh don't worry," she hissed out, her eyes glowing dangerously, "I'll be gentle."

Chiron was sitting on the porch of the big house enjoying the sunrise, when a bright flash of light lit the area near the lake and a small explosion followed, the loud noise topped by the screams of a young demigod. He sighed as he looked at the display with a deadpanned expression. It was kind of sad that he was used to mornings like this. A group of campers ran up to Chiron, strapped in their armor with their weapons at the ready, shouting about the explosion. Moments later another shout could be heard as the noise of the explosion died down.

"GODS DAMNIT YOU TWO! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO FUCKING SLEEP!"

The group quieted after hearing the shout and the leader of the group stepped forward and asked a simple question.

"Percy and Thalia?"

"Yep…"

The group collectively sighed and dispersed back to their cabins, muttering about children of the big three and how they should just go out already. Chiron watched them all go before turning to the door of the big house where his sight fell on the figure of Dionysus, clad in a purple leopard track suit with white running shoes.

"Today's the day isn't it?" Chiron asked, "The day the tasks are supposed to start?"

"Apparently so," replied Dionysus, "Artemis' task is first. I hope Perry likes arrows."

Chiron shuddered, remembering the horror of the Percy Archery incident. If the hunters tried to make him use a bow…there might not be a hunt afterwards. Nevertheless, Chiron had full faith in those two. Percy, Thalia, and him had grown close over the years. They always came to him for advice or a friendly game of Pinochle, and had become something like leaders of the camp, even if the two were insufferably immature sometimes. They once had a prank war with Conner and Travis Stoll, twin sons of Hermes, which lasted four months. Chiron had to put an end to it before it turned deadly when he caught Thalia and Percy trying to make napalm.

"They will be all right seeing as most of the gods are ok with them. The one I'm worried about with them is Hades."

"Yes, his hatred for the two hasn't diminished over the years. He's even sent some monsters after them on their quests."

Chiron didn't reply, he just looked back towards the dissipating dust cloud and put his hand behind his back. Yes he had noticed the increase in difficulty a quest held when Percy or Thalia were involved. Over the four years since they arrived, four quests had been issued with the two of them having one of the two involved. He remembered two years when Percy, Luke, and Clarisse returned from a quest: Percy had a broken arm, Clarisse had bandages covering multiple cuts across her chest, and Luke had a cut across his right eye and large bruises all over his body, and they had healed some on the journey back. Chiron could only pray that the fates allowed Percy and Thalia to make it through their trials.

Back near the lake with Percy and Thalia, the naiads were trembling in fear as Percy drug himself out of the water he had crawled into after being beaten with lightning by Thalia, who had left to the target area to practice on her accuracy with her throwing knives. His wounds had healed over thanks to his powers, but his shirt was pretty much destroyed.

"Man that's the fourth shirt this week," he whined as he jogged to his cabin, waiving to the still petrified naiads as he left, "If she keeps this up the only things shirts I'll have left are the orange camp shirts."

He reached his cabin few minutes later, its distinct sea blue color and sea shell decorations making it really easy to find. He opened the door and the smell of the ocean rolled out to meet him as he entered. His bunk sat on the left wall while his dresser was on the wall to his right next to a door that led to his bathroom, and a small salt water spring was nestled in the back corner. He walked over to his dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out one of his few remaining light blue t-shirt. The shirt matched his silver boots and cargo pants. His hunting knives still adorned his hands in their ring form. He walked into the bathroom and grabbed the IPod lying on the sink counter that Apollo had lent him all those years ago. He was about to leave when he stopped to look at himself in the mirror. His hair had gotten even longer and shaggier over the years, at one point it had reached the middle of his back, but Thalia told him it made him look like a girl so he cut it to a few inches below his shoulder. His eyes remained the same expressive toxic green they'd always been, and he'd grown a few inches now reaching five foot ten and filled out from all the training he'd been doing through. He wasn't big, but he was lean. All in all he thought he had matured greatly over the years.

Grinning widely he turned from the mirror and exited his cabin. It would take him about five minutes to reach the training grounds he and Thalia used at the pace he was going, so he opted for a little entertainment. He pulled the IPod from his pocket and concentrated. It flashed a brilliant golden color before fading, and what was once an IPod was now a Ukulele. He'd taken up the guitar three years ago and got hooked on it, quickly becoming good at the instrument. Ukuleles were easy to learn once he got good at the guitar. Strumming a simple melody and humming as he walked the camp began to stir from its slumber.

The only reason Percy caught the knife thrown at his face was because he was expecting it. Dropping his Ukulele and catching the projectile with his right hand, had he reacted any sooner he'd have a blade in his arm. He looked over at a still slightly blushing and mad Thalia as she glared at him. If looks could kill Percy would've been cremated.

"Your late," she stated, "twenty minutes late to be exact."

"If someone wouldn't have clobbered me and destroyed one of my favorite shirts I would've been here on time."

She growled and replied, "If someone wasn't such a pervert then the beating wouldn't have been necessary!"

Percy was about to argue that there was no way that he could've known they would end up in that situation, but he knew better than to try and argue. He held up his hands in surrender then bent to pick up his instrument, changing it back into an IPod and slipping it into his pocket. He stood up straight and asked,

"Ok ok I get it. So, what are we working on?"

She looked up in thought before looking back at Percy and answering,

"Hmmm…let's just spar for now because Chiron wanted us to come to breakfast today for some reason."

A confused look crossed over Percy's face.

"Why? We always eat breakfast hear because of our training?"

She shrugged her shoulders,

"I don't know I just remember that's what he told us to do yesterday. Remember, or is there to much seaweed in your head?"

"Oh shut it Sparky," he replied and her eye twitched at being called that nickname, "So what are the parameters of the fight?"

"No powers, no weapons, just hand to hand combat. Loser is the others slave for a day. Deal?"

Percy grinned. He needed a good hand to hand fight, and a personal slave sounded nice too. He nodded his head in confirmation and they got into their fighting stances. He crouched low with his fingertips resting on the ground, ready to explode forward at any given moment. She stood loosely bouncing on her feet with her hands up in a kickboxer like stance. The two locked eyes, waiting for that moment where they knew the battle would begin, trying to see who would be the one to initialize the fight. A few moments later and Thalia couldn't wait any longer; she was impulsive like her element. She shot forward to attack, quickly covering the ground between them. Percy simply waited for the attack preferring to play a reactionary role in this battle, but he knew that he would have to do more than react to beat Thalia.

She spun around and attempted to sweep kick him, but Percy jumped over the attack and spun attempting to land his own low sweeping kick. Thalia grabbed his foot as she finished spinning around effectively blocking his attack. Using her grasp as a foothold, Percy pushed of and back flipped away before launching himself forward, cocking his arm back in preparations for a haymaker at the still crouching Thalia. Quicker than he could attack, Thalia leapt up into the air over the punch and aimed a punch downwards. Thalia thought there wasn't any way Percy could avoid the attack, but like the changing tide he surprised her by spinning around and catching the punch with his left hand while his right kept him in place. He threw her fist to the side spinning her in the air and pushed off the ground to deliver a punch with his right hand. Thalia used her rotation to her advantage and whipped her hand around for a vicious backhand. The two attacks connected with each other's face sending Percy into the ground and Thalia back a few feet. The two got to their feet and glared at one another. Just as they were going to launch themselves at each other a loud horn sounded. The two groaned.

"Damn it, that's the horn for breakfast." Thalia hissed out.

"Yeah I know. Well let's get going I guess." Percy replied as the two began to walk in silence towards the dining area.

The comfortable silence lasted for about two minutes before Percy opened his mouth,

"So I think that was my win so I'm in the lead now with one hundred and ten wins to your one hundred and nine."

Thalia's whipped her head around so she was looking at Percy,

"Bullshit! For one that battle was a tie and I was already in the lead by six. We weren't tied!"

"That's not how I remember it…"

"That's because your head is full of Kelp!"

"Oh shut up Sparky."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Their arguing continued even after they reached the dining hall as they both sat down at the Poseidon table. The first time they had done this the campers had a heart attack, afraid the god would be offended, but Percy told them it was alright. They didn't believe him at first, but after they did it a few times and weren't struck down by a violent earthquake they accepted it. Chiron cleared his throat loudly trying to get the attention of the two bickering demigods. After trying and failing for a few minutes he sighed and looked at Annabeth who just sighed. She got up and walked over to the two and promptly smacked them in the back of the head. The two whipped their heads around to confront whoever assaulted them, and were met with the angry glare of the daughter of Athena.

"Will you two shut up for five minutes so Chiron can talk?" she hissed out.

The two grinned sheepishly while Percy scratched the back of his head. Annabeth walked back over to sit down while all the other campers looked at her in aww. So far she was the only one who was able to shut them up besides Luke. She motioned to Chiron who was about to speak before a bright flash of light lit the clearing. When it dulled Athena was standing in place. Before anyone could address the goddess she turned towards the children of the big three and fixed them with a calculating glare.

"Prepare yourselves demigods. Your task begins shortly."

**Well that is a wrap my friends. Percy and Thalia have been training and refining their skills for the past four years in preparation for this moment. Their first task is going to be issued. What will it be? Seriously let me know what you think it should be. I'm open to suggestions. What kind of abilities have they developed over the years? You'll just have to come back next chapter to find out!**

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	9. The Philosopher's Stone

**Hello All! The latest installment of Hydromancer has arrived! I'm happy to see that despite this being my first story it's starting to gain a little popularity! The years have passed and the two children of the big three have grown in both power and personality. Athena has appeared to issue their first quest! What kind of task will the Goddess of Wisdom give Percy and Thalia? Read on to find out!**

Excitement seemed to hum off Percy as he filled the pockets of his black cargo pants full of supplies he thought he would need on his journey, He didn't like using backpacks because they slowed him down and made it harder for him to dodge. It was the early morning after had Athena had issued him and Thalia their task. Percy had been buzzing with anticipation the entire day after the goddess had appeared, and barely slept the night before. When he woke he rushed to the bathroom to complete his morning routine which consisted of brush teeth, wash face, and comb hair, well attempt to at least. After doing that he quickly rushed back to his dresser reached in and threw on a purple t-shirt and the pants he was currently stuffing with supplies, some drachma, ambrosia, nectar, first aid supplies, and his IPod. Satisfied with his packing he slipped on his silver rings, black hunting boots, and matching sleeveless hoodie then bolted out the door of his cabin to Half-Blood Hill.

As he sprinted up the hill he spotted Thalia standing next to Chiron waiting for him, though his eyes lingered on Thalia's form. Her short spikey hair had grown over the years and two long bangs framed her face. She was clad in her black leather jacket with a black and red Green Day t-shirt underneath it, blue jeans, and black boots. Her mace can and silver bangle adorned her wrist like usual. She was grinning as widely as Percy was at the moment, just as excited as he was about the upcoming mission. Percy's heart skipped when he saw her much to his confusion. It'd been doing this around her for a while now, but he wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to mean. He put it in the back of his mind for now, he figured if it was important then the answer would come to him eventually. He skidded to a halt as he reached the top next to the pair and greeted them with his giant goofy grin.

"Morning Chiron, Thalia. Great day for questing don't you think?" he said in anticipation.  
>"Morning Percy and yes it is a lovely day for questing. I can't wait to start," Thalia replied while rubbing her hands together in anticipation.<p>

Chiron just sighed as he looked at his two favorite campers. What went through their heads on a daily basis he would never know.

"As excited as you two are for this, you do realize you could quite possibly die a painful horrible death right?"

The two's smiles disappeared as they looked at each other, and Chiron thought that maybe he'd finally talked some sense into the two demigods before their grins returned two fold and they replied in unison,

"Yeah, but that's what makes it so much fun!"

Chiron just stared at them with a blank expression on his face as the two cackled with glee and then sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot whenever these two were involved. He didn't know why he even tried anymore.

"Ok…Do you remember what your task is?"

"Yes Chiron were not seven," replied Thalia, "We need to find a way to get to this place called North Brother Island and retrieve the um…what's it called again?"

"Philosopher's stone," Percy answered, "Retrieve the stone and then bring it to Olympus."

"Yeah, sounds like it'll be a breeze," Thalia said.

"If it was such a breeze then Athena wouldn't have given you the task of retrieving it," Chiron replied.

"You worry too much," Percy chuckled as he threw his arm over Thalia's shoulder with a confident grin on his face, not noticing the slight blush that rose on her cheeks, "It's me and Thalia you're talking to. We can handle it."

Chiron sighed. He'd just have to let these to figure out the hard way that the god's tasks were not to be taken lightly.

"If you believe so then who am I to hold up anymore of your time," Chiron replied, "Get going, and when I come back I expect details. Luke down there will drive you to Manhattan where your quest will begin."

"You got it Chiron," Percy shouted back as he and Thalia began to walk down the hill, the slight hitch in his voice at the mentioning of Luke going unnoticed by Chiron, "I'll tell you all about how amazing I was when I get back!"

Thalia and Chiron just rolled their eyes at Percy, though Thalia still sported a wide grin. The two got to the bottom of the hill and climbed into the car with the son of Hermes where their good mood seemed to all but dissipate. The two were still happy about the task mind you, just not about the driver of their car right now. Luke had…changed. It had started a few years back when he'd snuck away from camp on a journey to the Garden of the Hesperides. He'd never really held the gods in high favor, and for some reason seeing how powerful Percy and Thalia were becoming made him feel angry. He was angry at the attention they were getting just because they were the children of the big three and set out to show that other demigods were just as good. What way was he going to do this? By beating Ladon, a hundred headed dragon, and stealing a golden apple from the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides. Percy and Thalia were determined to go after him, but when Zeus himself came and forbade them from pursuing him there was nothing they could do. Zeus said the boy needed to learn from his own foolishness.

Three weeks passed with Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth anxiously waited for him to return. They had begun to give up hope when he finally stumbled back into camp, looking as if he'd gone four rounds with a bear and lost. He made it to the garden, but once the fight against Ladon began Luke quickly realized he was outclassed. He barely escaped with his life, and was left with a nasty scar on his face as remembrance of his defeat. Instead of humbling him, the battle seemed to just make him angrier at the gods and by extension Percy and Thalia. When he returned he became even more distant to the duo than before. Percy and Thalia tried to keep him at their side, but Luke wasn't having it. He split from the group and never looked back.

The drive into Manhattan was a quiet awkward affair. No one spoke to anyone. The only thing that made the trip bearable was the radio in the car that was currently playing some music that Percy and Thalia recognized, Shinedown, Diamond Eyes, if their ears were correct. Thalia loved that song; it matched her personality in battle to a tee, rush in like lightning and kick ass first then worry about what's next. Her personality in battle was opposite of Percy's. He had a reactionary kind of style, fighting best when counter attacking. He fought like the see, swirling and bending around his enemy battering them from all sides until they capsized. The two balanced each other, which is why they made such a great team and were highly sought after in the camp's capture the flag games. In the car Percy was thinking about trying to break the tension with Luke, but he had no idea what to say. He looked at Thalia who just shook her head sadly at him and resumed listening to the radio. Not long after the car rolled to a stop next to the East river. It was still early in the morning so nobody was out where they were yet.

Percy and Thalia got out of the car, happy to get away from that tense situation, and apparently so was Luke. As soon as the doors closed he floored it and the car tired screeched loudly as he turned and sped back to camp. The two just watched the car disappear into the distance and sighed, then turned to the river. It was massive.

"So where is this North Brother Island?" Thalia asked, "All I see is river. No islands in…oh there it is."

Thalia pointed in the direction of the island and Percy scanned the horizon looking for the island Thalia apparently spotted. Percy saw it after a few moments later, a brownish blob amongst the sea of murky blue water.

"Oh ok cool. That wasn't that hard, wonder why Athena would give us a place so easy to find."

"Dunno, but how are we supposed to get over there? I mean I know you can do your water skating thing, but I can't walk on water."

She was right Percy thought. He could make it to the island easy in about fifteen twenty minutes tops running on the water, but Thalia couldn't do that. They'd have to get a boat, or maybe he could try and get her to fly over the lake, but she was afraid of heights so she probably wouldn't do it. Wow, a daughter of Zeus afraid of heights…who knew? Maybe he could find a place that rents jet skis, or something like…A large grin covered Percy's face. He knew exactly how Thalia was getting across. He turned to her and the minute she saw his grin she knew something was up. That was his prankster grin, and he reserved that grin for times when he was feeling mischievous. All the campers knew that when he had that grin on his face to steer clear of him lest you be his latest victim, but now it was aimed at her and she had no idea what he was planning.

"I know how we can get you across," he chuckled, mirth filling his eyes as he looked at the confused and slightly frightened Thalia.

"Oh, really?" she asked, really not wanting to but knowing she had little choice.

'Please don't let it be like last time where he tried to get me to fly with my air powers,'

"So how am I getting across?"

Percy just walked over to Thalia who grew more and more nervous with each step the son of Poseidon took. When he reached her he grinned at her for a few moments before, he turned around and kneeled onto the ground before he said,

"Hop on!"

Had Percy been looking at Thalia he would've seen the shocked look flash on her face before it was replace by a massive blush. She grit her teeth as she tried to and failed to force down the blush, on one hand she wanted to punch him in the back of the head, but on the other it really was the easiest was to get across and not that she would admit it to him but…she honestly didn't mind. Percy just stayed in his kneeling position chuckling quietly to himself. He was waiting for the violent outburst that she was known for with him, he loved pissing her off for some reason. It's not like she was ever truly angry with him, they could go from fighting to best friends in two seconds flat. He wasn't expecting Thalia to agree to his idea; honestly he just did it to get a rise out of her, so imagine his surprise when he felt a weight on his back.

Now it was Percy's turn to blush as a startled look appeared on his face. He was right now experiencing the very distinct feeling of having boobs pressed onto his upper back. He turned and looked at Thalia, not at all expecting this outcome and he saw the matching blush on her face. She saw him look and panicked trying to explain herself.

"What! You offered!? And it's the quickest way to get across the damn river so stop looking at me! Wait…are you blushing?"

A grin appeared on her face at the sight of his blush. She laughed when she saw that he was in fact blushing and it only seemed to be getting worse the more she laughed. She paused. What was making him blush anyways? She looked at his face again, and for a moment she saw his eyes flicker down towards her… Her blush returned twice as strong as before.

"You pervert!" she screamed as she smacked him on the back of the head, "Stop blushing!"

"I can't if you keep grinding you're giant boobs into my back!" he shouted back.

"My boobs are not giant! They're only a c-cup!"

"Oh really? That's nice to know…"

"SHUT UP WATER BOY!"

"SPARKY!"

If anyone were to see the two they would look like a couple having a lovers spat, but even though the two were shouting at each other, the happiness in their eyes proved that neither was truly mad at the other. Finally after minutes of shouting insults at one another Percy had enough. He reached behind him and wrapped his arms around Thalia's thighs and hoisted her up as he stood, getting a surprised shriek and a deeper blush out of his companion.

"We can bicker later," he argued, trying desperately to fight down his embarrassment, "Right now we need to get to that Island and get the stone."

Thalia was going to argue with Percy again, but slowly shut her mouth and muttered an ok then griped about perverted demigods. Percy just rolled his eyes and walked forward towards the river. He took a step onto the river and was off skating towards the island. Neither talked on the journey, Percy having to concentrate to keep his balance having never carried someone else while doing this while Thalia just sat with a faraway gaze in her eyes. A few minutes into the journey Thalia figured she might as well enjoy the ride and wrapped her arms around Percy's neck and leaned into him, causing both of them to blush once again.

"Percy…" she whispered next to his ear.

"Y-yeah?" he stammered, shuddering at her breath on his ear.

"…Thanks," she mumbled out. It wasn't what she wanted to talk to him about, but she still didn't have the courage to ask what she wanted to, not yet.

He smiled and replied with a quick head nod and a, "No problem,"

The rest of the journey was continued in silence. Thalia and Percy kept their eyes on the island and took in more and more of its features the close they got to it. It was nothing but forest for the most part, but the closer they got the two began to make out a few stone building amongst the green of the trees. The journey took the two of them thirty minutes since Percy had to go a bit slower so he didn't topple over with Thalia. Once they touched down onto the shore of the island they immediately noticed something was different about it. The atmosphere of the island was thick and ominous, as if something was waiting in the forest for them to enter, ready to devour them. Being demigods, this was most likely true. Thalia slid off Percy's back and immediately gripped her mace can while Percy subconsciously gripped his hands. Something on this island was watching them, and this something didn't seem too happy.

"Yeah," Percy mumbled, "This seems like the right place to keep a creepy stone. What's the story behind this place?"

"It's haunted, or so they say," replied Thalia as she eyed the forest in front of them, "All those old buildings are, well were, quarantine hospitals. Apparently this place has been the site of many disasters since the beginning of the 1900's."

Percy just stared at Thalia before replying,

"How did you know that? We just learned about this place today."

"I researched a little. You wouldn't be such a seaweed brain if you did that from time to time."

"Hey! I'm smart!"

"But I'm smarter."

Percy was about to reply when a low moaning noise caught his ear. The two turned towards the forest as the moans grew louder and louder. Percy summoned his silver hunting knives while Thalia summoned her shield and spear. They were growing and more anxious the more the seconds ticked by as more moaning joined the first growing into a symphony of chilling terror. Finally the creatures emerged from the forest. Percy and Thalia were both confused and terrified at the same time.

"Thalia?" Percy asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah Percy?" she replied as more and more figures emerged from the forest.

"Since when have zombies been a part of the Greek Pantheon?"

Thalia couldn't answer that question. Hell she was wondering the same fucking thing. They would have to ponder this later though because the zombies were still emerging, and they looked hungry.

**Oh snap! Bet nobody was expecting zombies! It came to me in a dream, and I though why the hell not!? How will the pair handle a zombie horde? Do the zombies tie into the stone their supposed to find? You'll just have to come back next chapter to see how this plays out! The first task has commenced, but there are still many to be completed after this one. What do you all think they should be? I'm open to suggestions so let me know what you guys think!**

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	10. Decisions

**Hello All! The latest installment of Hydromancer has arrived! Percy and Thalia have arrived on North Brother Island to find it overrun not by monsters, but by the undead!? How will they handle something like this? And what does this have to do with the Philosopher's Stone? Read on to find out!**

The yellow glow of the undead fiends' eyes put the two of them on edge. Percy and Thalia inched away from each other in order to give themselves room to strike, but noticed that the zombies never got within twenty feet to the two. Thalia began to really look at the zombies in front of them. They were decayed and rotting, their stench filling the air around them. They were dressed in clothes from a range of eras starting from the early nineteen hundreds and on, most just random civilian wear but a few were dressed as a doctor. Thalia was so absorbed in her observations that she almost didn't hear Percy call out to her.

"Thalia," he whispered loudly, "Hey Sparky!"

"Don't call me that!" she hissed at him, "What is it?"

"Isn't it kind of weird that they aren't attacking?" Percy asked with a puzzled look on his face, "I mean most monsters would attack the moment they see a demigod, but these guys are just…watching us…and they stopped that creepy moaning."

It WAS weird. They were just staring at them as an earie silence filled the island shore, the only noise being the sound of the water gently lapping upon the island. Suddenly the zombies directly in front of them parted and a figure walked through the makeshift alley, swinging a bronze cane in his right hand as he did. He looked much older than the pair, and was dressed in the same doctor like clothing some of the zombies wore, a white lab coat, black slacks and dress shoes, and a dress shirt. His long black hair wasn't didn't have the same shine and full look that Percy's did, his hair looked flat, dead, and tangled. A confident smirk rested on his bearded face, though it didn't reach his cold brown eyes. As his gaze roamed over the two demigods they couldn't help but shiver.

"Well well well…what do we have here?" spoke the man, his voice gravely as if it didn't see use often, "Two young demigods have come to my island. Are you seeking what others before you have failed to retrieve?"

Percy and Thalia's grip on their weapons tightened. That was a veiled and ominous threat if they've ever heard one. They glanced at each other and nodded. It was obvious from the guy's manner of speaking that he was talking about the Philosopher' Stone. They needed that stone, and he knew where it was. They knew what they were going to do and were preparing to implement their plan, milk the guy for information then nuke the bitch.

"Depends, what have these others failed to retrieve?" Percy asked.

The older man chuckled, "You know exactly what I'm talking about young demigod."

"So you know of the stones location?"

The man's smirk widened before he replied, "But of course, I know the location of everything on my island. It's close to my home."

"Why tell us where it is?" inquired Thalia, "Aren't you afraid we'll take it?"

"Not at all you won't be getting anywhere near my home," he snickered in reply, "You aren't the first to try and you won't be the last."

"Awfully confident aren't we?" growled Thalia, "What makes you think we won't?"

"Simple," he replied as he turned and began walking into the foliage, the zombies converging to mask his figure, "You're standing on the grave site of dozens of other demigods who pretty much said the exact same thing you did, surrounded by my minions. I don't think you're finding anything but death. Have a nice death."

As if on cue the zombies began to come forward, intent on ending the two's existence. Thalia was the first to attack lunging forward and stabbing one of the undead through the head. A ball of yellow light flew out of the corps and disappeared as the corps itself disintegrated. Shaking off her shock Thalia began striking out taking out zombie after zombie and slowly was separated from Percy. Percy on the other hand sat and waited for them to come to him. As the closes one reached him Percy spun underneath it and stabbed it in the back of the head. The orb flew out of it and dissipated as the undead monster turned to dust. He began weaving in and out of the crowd of the dead, taking zombies at a fast pace. As quick as the two were fighting and dispatching their enemies, the sheer number of the zombies was driving them back towards the water. Percy summoned a wave of water and washed it over the beach, pushing the horde back. There were too many, they needed to leave and regroup.

"Thalia!" he shouted trying to get a lock on her position, "Where are you Thalia?!"

His reply was a small explosion of blue lightning that destroyed all the zombies in the immediate vicinity and flung those a few feet behind them back about twenty feet to his left. He willed the water to rise and responding to his will the water rose to about fifteen feet. With his elevated position he could clearly see Thalia whirl winding around as she killed more and more zombies, but if the look on her face was anything to go by she was tiring. He surged forward on the wave carving a path through the thick horde straight towards Thalia. She looked over at Percy's approaching figure and nodded, knowing what he was coming to get her. She dispersed her spear and shield and raised her arms above her head, her fists clenched as lightning began to dance off them. The zombies surged forward in an attempt to stop her, but before they could make it more than a few steps the daughter of Zeus slammed her electricity charged fists into the ground.

A shockwave of lightning thundered out with her at the epicenter, knocking the undead horde back more than seven feet while a few of the closer ones were obliterated. Thalia stood quickly and jumped, thrusting her arm up just as Percy swooped in on his wave, clasping onto her hand and swinging her up into his arms as the wave continued to cut its path. He turned the wave to face the forest and it roared forward. Percy, still holding Thalia, leapt over the recovering horde and landed on the earth with a thud. Putting his friend down the two tore off into the forest, attempting to put some distance between them and the undead nightmares that followed them. A few zombies littered the forest, but with their few numbers they were easily beaten or maneuvered around.

"Man what the Hades is with this situation?" Percy panted out as he ran, "Zombies? Really?"

"It's the Philosopher's Stone Percy, "Thalia replied as she kept pace next to him, "Think about it, why did people want the stone in the first place."

Percy was oddly silent. Thalia turned to look at him and saw him looking forward with a small embarrassed blush on his face. Thalia just gave him a withering look.

"Did you not research the stone like we talked about yesterday?" she questioned.

"No," he chuckled nervously as he looked at Thalia's glare, "What?! You were gonna do it and I figured I'd ask you about it later."

"Seaweed Brained idiot," she muttered while Percy pouted at being insulted, "The stone is believed to be able to turn lead into gold, and also it's supposedly able to grant immortality to any who possess it. He is using it to give life."

She could see the wheels turning in Percy's head as he digested the information and began to apply it to their situation. Realization dawned on his face as he pieced it together. The two having put enough of a distance between themselves and the zombie horde stopped to catch their breath, sweat visible on both of them from the effort they put forth in their fight and run. Percy put his hands on his knees as he gasped for air, while Thalia leaned against a nearby tree. A few minutes later, once the two had caught their breath, Percy looked up at Thalia and began to speak.

"So you're telling me that that guy we saw is granting life to the corpses of the people who died on this island? And he can literally keep doing it until he runs out of bodies?"

"No I don't think so," Thalia stated, "I don't think any of the gods would let an object that can grant immortality and raise the dead fall into the mortal realm, especially Hades."

"True," he stated, "But he's doing it well enough so apparently they did, but something's bothering me about those glowing…orb…things…"

Thalia saw Percy pause as another face of realization dawned on his face.

"Oh gods, they're Eidolons," he growled out, "The glowing orb things? Those are Eidolons fading back to Hades whenever we destroy the bodies they inhabit."

"So the stone kick starts the process before the corps is possessed by an Eidolon," Thalia muttered, "That's just great. Where is the stone? He said it was close to his home."

A smile spread across his face, "That guy isn't as smart as he thought it was. He told us where it is. Think about it, home is where the..."

"Heart is…"Thalia finished, "Ok so we know where the stone is, but where did he go?"

A loud rustling noise filled the clearing before a couple zombies began to stream in. The two sprang into action, summoning their weapons and attacked. Percy ran forward and stabbed the first zombie he saw in the forehead, the blade passing through his skull with a sickening crunch as the undead monster began to dissolve and the orb dispersed. He moved onto the next, as Thalia used he spear to impale one in the head before she whirled around and used her shield as a weapon, smashing its edge into the head of a zombie that had come from behind her. The blow caved in the corpse's skull ending it in one hit. Thalia ran and grabbed Percy before the two tore away from the rest of the approaching undead.

"Shit, we need to find this guy!" Shouted Percy as the two ran.

The situation was a lot more dangerous than he'd anticipated the sheer number of the enemies no matter how weak made this task not only tiring but fatal. One wrong move and they'd be overrun. The two burst from the forest into an abandoned street, nature already reclaiming it as roots and grasses lay scattered in the cracked remains of human civilization. To their left they could see a horde of Zombies coming towards them. They appeared to be walking from an abandoned five story building, where a figure could be seen standing on the roof before it disappeared. Percy was preparing to run the opposite direction when Thalia stopped them.

"Wait, we need to go that way," Stated Thalia as she pointed towards the horde.

"What!? Are you crazy? Do you wanna get eaten, cuz I'm pretty sure that's how you get eaten."

She smacked him in the head for his remark and explained,

"Think about it. If you were the guy with the stone and wanted to stop people from getting it, then what would you do?"

Percy thought about it for a few moments then the answer came,

"Surround myself with protection so the people couldn't get it."

"Exactly," she replied, "So we need to go that way. I'm pretty sure that guy we saw on the roof was our stone holder."

"That's good and all, but how do we get around them, there is about three times as many there as there were on the beach. There's no way we can fight through all of them."

Thalia herself wasn't quite so sure either. There was only one thing she could think of that could get them over the horde and into the building safely, and she was hoping Percy wouldn't mention it, but the fates just loved to mess with her.

"The only way I could think of to get over the horde and onto the top of that building quickly would be if we fly," Percy stated looking at Thalia who had visibly paled.

Thalia hated heights, she was afraid to be so high in the air, so much so that when she found out a few years back that she could control air currents and fly that she refused to use them to do so. Only Percy, Luke, and Annabeth's pestering got her to finally relent and practice the power, though she refused to float over five feet off the ground. Percy, seeing her pale, put a hand on her shoulder in order to comfort her.

"You can do it Thalia. Don't worry about your fear; you're a daughter of the sky god for Pete sake! You can fly high," he assured her, "We need to do this soon. I can hear the zombies that were behind us approaching. Just launch me first like you used to do at camp and then come up after me."

Thalia smiled in remembrance. She and Percy had created a sort of game experimenting with their powers. Thalia needed to practice manipulating wind, and Percy wanted to know how high he could fall into some water from. So one morning they had come up with an exercise, Thalia would launch Percy into the air above the lake and Percy would dive in. Each time they tried she would throw him higher and higher, at least until Chiron found out. The duo nearly gave the old trainer a heart attack when he saw Thalia launch Percy over four hundred feet in the air, and made them promise to never do it again.

With a nod from Thalia as the green light, Percy crouched down into positon as if about to jump. Thalia began condensing the air into a swirling ball underneath Percy, growing stronger and stronger as the seconds ticked by. Percy's hair whipped in the wind and a crazed look settled in his eyes. He forgot how much he loved doing this. The winds around the two had picked up substantially and Thalia was nearing the amount of power she needed to send Percy flying.

"Jump!" she shouted at Percy and once he complied she released control on the ball of wind.

The ball expanded rapidly, the wind whirling around the surrounding area as Percy soared through the sky towards the buildings top. He couldn't keep the giant grin off his face as he soared through the air over the giant horde towards the buildings top where he could see a figure standing. As he neared the building he could feel the wind push back on him slowing his fall speed down. He landed with a loud thud, rolling into a standing position in front of the man in the doctor's lab coat that bore a look of surprise on his face.

"You're a son of Zeus?!" the man asked startled.

"Naw," Percy replied, the grin never leaving his face as a ring of water materialized from the molecules in the air around the man before turning into ice spikes, "Poseidon's kid."

"You were not in my master's plans!" the man shouted, "The big three were not supposed to have children!"

"Yeah well they did and now I'm here to take the stone."

"No matter," the man replied, "You may kill me, but my master shall go forth unhindered. You may be stronger than the average demigod, but you're still just that. A demigod!"

Percy narrowed his eyes at the man, unsure of what he was talking about. Whatever, he was here to get the stone. Percy flicked his wrists and the ice shards imbedded themselves into the man before he could move, skewering through him, tips stained crimson with his blood. The man crumpled to the floor with a look of shock permanently etched on his as he slowly dissolved into nothingness, a golden orb four times as bright as the rest flying out of him, but instead of dissipating it flew into the earth.

The zombies below followed suit, dissipating into nothing while golden orbs of light dissolved into the now afternoon sky. In the man's place an egg sized stone the color of blood lay on the ground, glowing slightly. Percy bent and picked it up, stashing it in one of his pockets before something occurred to him. He looked around, casually at first, but when he couldn't find what he was looking for panic began to set in. Dread settled in his heart as his eyes confirmed what his mind already knew.

Thalia was gone.

Percy spent hours searching the island. Every building was checked, every stone turned, every tree climbed, but he couldn't find his best friend. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes threatening to fall as he made his way back to the beach where he and Thalia first got on the island. The sun was hanging low in the sky as day was beginning to turn to night. Percy couldn't help the rage and sadness that bombarded his soul.

'_You fucking idiot! You left her down there by herself and now look what's gone and happened! She's gone without a trace! First it was your mom now Thalia. Who else is going to die because of your incompetence! What am I going to tell Zeus?! He'll kill me for letting his daughter die, but who could blame him…'_

As he trudged the forest his spirt was cracked, he'd lost his best friend. She was the one person he was closer to than anyone else, gods almost more than his mother! Memories of moments they had together played through his mind, causing his heart to grow heavier with each one as he was reminded of how much he cared for her. The tears were beginning to fall as he neared the forest edge. He'd promised himself he would cry all those years ago and here he was breaking it. He exited the forest trying to figure out how to break the news to everyone when the sight in front of him made his heart stop.

"THALIA!" he shouted as he sprinted towards the figure standing near the water's edge.

Unbridled happiness and relief flooded his entire being at the site of her, completely blocking out the ominous presence. His friend was ok! She wasn't dead, they could go home together and put this entire thing behind them, but something was off… As he neared her he began to feel the ominous presence, but he put it in the back of his mind. He slowed his pace as he neared the daughter of Zeus and was about to speak before, his heart fell once again. Thalia's eyes were completely yellow.

"What's the matter?" Thalia asked, her voice raspy and distorted, "Don't you miss little old me?"

Percy felt the rage grow within him. He knew that voice…it was the voice of the Eidolon that had possessed the old dude. Thinking back he remembered that it never dispersed, but flew into the earth…to get to Thalia. Percy's eyes glowed dangerously as the filled with fury and the lake water began to surge behind his possessed friend.

" . . ." he hissed as he clenched the knives in his hands.

Thalia smirked before replying, "You don't want to hurt me do you?" she chuckled as she slowly walked forward closing the distance between the two and summoning her spear and shield, "After all if you hurt me you'll hurt this girl you hold so dear."

Percy recoiled in shock,

"She's not dead?" he whispered in shock, but the spirit heard him.

"Of course not, Eidolon's can't possess dead creatures, only the living, though that proves problematic for you does it not? Now not only do you have to kill this body if you wish to defeat me, but she's still alive in here."

The spirit lunged, jabbing her spear straight at Percy who barely dodged the blow getting a deep cut in his side from the spear, and began to weave around her strikes. Percy was panicking. He didn't know what to do. If he killed the Eidolon then he Thalia would die, but if he didn't then she would be possessed forever. His wound was slowing him down, oozing blood as he continued to dodge the wild spear strikes being sent his way. If he didn't do anything he would be dead anyways.

'If I could just get the spirit out of her,' he raged in his head, 'But the only way I could dislodge it was if the body died! There's no way I could kill Thalia and bring her back…wait yes there is.'

Percy's face set in grim determination as he realized what may be the only way to save his friend. He leapt backwards putting some distance between him and Thalia, several cuts and bruises adorning his body. The Eidolon smirked.

"What? Tired of fighting your friend? Afraid you'll die by her hands? Don't worry I won't kill you. I'll take you to master, then he can make some use of you."

"Who is your master?" Percy asked with his head slightly lowered, trying to keep the spirit occupied as he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do.

"Oh you'll find out soon. I've already informed him of you and your friend's existence and he is most intrigued. You will be meeting him very soon young demigod."

Percy locked his determined and rage filled eyes onto the glowing yellow ones of the possessed Thalia,

"Why don't you go tell him I said to fuck off."

Percy's hands shot up and the water in the lake reacted, shooting up and wrapping around Thalia's arms her weapons clattering to the ground uselessly. A shocked look flashed across Thalia's face, and before the spirit could speak Percy rushed forward and tackled her into the waves. He used his strength to hold her under the waves, tears streaming down his face as he was forced to star at the terrified look on his friends face as the life left her. Slowly her struggling slowed to a stop, and a ball of golden light flew from under Percy. He slashed at it, and it split in two before dissolving.

As fast as he could, Percy pulled his friend from under the waves and to shore. He put his hands on her chest and pumped, muttering words of encouragement to Thalia as he began to preform CPR. He leant down and after grabbing her nose, put his lips to hers and gave her the kiss of life. After a moment he lifted up and pumped a few more times. He was beginning to lose hope when Thalia began coughing out the water from her lungs. He didn't cry out in joy, he just sat there and watched as Thalia slowly came too from the brink of death. She sat up and looked around. Spotting Percy she saw the distress on his face, and it tugged at her heart. She hated to see him so sad.

"What's the matter Percy? What happened," She asked as tears fell from Percy face, "All I remember is waiting for you to get done up there than nothing. What's going…"

She was interrupted by Percy launching forward and pulling her into a bone crushing embrace, his sobs the only noise in the immediate area. She tried to talk to him but he was in no condition to talk. So she just sat with the boy she might love as he cried his soul out.

**And with that we will end. Percy was forced to kill his friend in order to save her, but how is that going to affect our young hero? Will he be in any sort of shape to complete his other tasks? There are still many to be completed after this one. What do you all think they should be? I'm open to suggestions so let me know what you guys think!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging Out.**


	11. Ghost Rider

**Hello All! The latest installment of Hydromancer has arrived! The Philosopher Stone has been retrieved with only a few injuries, at least only a few physical injuries. How will the two cope with the results of their first quest, and what others lay ahead of them? Read on to find out!**

If looks could kill, then Camp Half-Blood would be a crater in the earth with the way Percy's toxic green eyes were glaring at the ground.

He lay flat on his stomach arms at his side, on the ground near the lake, sweat streaming down his face. His muscles screamed in protest at the pain the workout he was doing was putting his body through. The mangled pieces of countless targets were strewn about his training area, torn to shreds by the son of Poseidon in a rage and discarded like nothing. He'd been training for over six hours straight for the past week trying to burn out the emotions he could feel storming inside him, but every time he thought about it….

Every time he remembered….

Those glowing yellow eyes filled with madness….

The mad grin stretched across her face….

His hands forcing her under the water….

The sheer terror on her face….

Her heartbeat stopping….

The feeling of watching his best friend die….

The feeling of being the one responsible for it….

His emotions rose again and wreaked havoc in his mind. Anger, sadness, self-loathing, guilt, they all swirled together inside of him, tormenting him, invading his sleep so that the only thing he's dreamt since the task was him killing his best friend over…

And over…

And over…

And over….  
>Percy hadn't been sleeping that much all week.<p>

A gasp alerted Percy to the fact that he wasn't alone. He could hear footsteps rapidly approaching his downed form. He didn't even bother to look up, he knew exactly who that gasp belonged to. Percy craned his neck up and was met with the sight of an extremely worried Thalia in a pair of grey sweats, a white shirt, and her boots crouching in front of him. He smiled the best he could trying to mask the pain in his eyes, but Thalia had known him so long he knew she could see through it. He hated that he was hurting her by keeping his pain from her, but how exactly do you tell your best friend you can't sleep at night because when you do you dream about the time you killed her over and over until it drives you to consciousness hours later. Yeah, that'd go over well. He never told her what actually happened when she was possessed; he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he did. He didn't think she'd want to be around him anymore, hell she'd probably hate him. So for now he'd keep it to himself. He'd suffer in silence.

"Percy, why the Hades are you doing this to yourself?" Thalia asked, worry evident in her voice as she spoke.

If she was hoping to get Percy to open up, tell her what was bothering him, and stop pushing himself to the point of extreme physical pain then her hopes were washed away when he just grinned at her and replied,

"Got to get stronger so we can breeze through these tasks the gods have for us."

Thalia sighed quietly. That was the same answer she got every time she asked him that question. She knew there was something else to this. Whenever they used to train, they often trained to the point of exhaustion over the four years they'd been here, but it was always a few days in the week they would do that, not the entire fucking week! Something was wrong. He'd been avoiding her all week, always saying he had something to do with some other camper, or that he was going to the bottom of the lake to train, or whatever lame excuse he came up with. It didn't really matter what excuse he used, the simple fact was that he was avoiding her, and it was hurting her more than she let anyone see. Every time he looked at her with his eyes so full of sadness she could feel her heart ache.

Percy put his palms in the dirt and pushed himself to a stand, although the bruises and cuts were visible on his skin making him look beaten and battered. He offered her one last fake smile before turning and walking towards the lake.

"Don't worry about me Sparky. I'm fine. Just work on getting stronger like me! I'm gonna go train under the water for a bit so I'll see you at dinner."

Thalia's heart sank lower and lower as she watched her friend descend below the water, a frustrated huff escaping her lips. She was going to get Percy to talk, but until she could corner him where he couldn't escape she'd have to wait.

"Something happened to him on our first task," she mumbled as she walked out of the decimated training field, "And I will find out what. It all started at the meeting with the gods a week ago."

**FLASHBACK (1 WEEK AGO, THRONE ROOM OF THE GODS):**

Percy and Thalia sat in the middle of the throne room as the gods looked down at them from their thrones. Percy had bandages covering various cuts all over him, the largest being around his abdomen while Thalia sported no significant damage. All eyes were on Percy. When the two demigods were warped into the throne room they immediately saw how haunted Percy looked. He had a faraway gaze in his eyes and he refused to meet anyone's eyes. Concern welled up in Poseidon as he looked at his son. What could have caused him to become like this? Artemis, Apollo, and Hestia all frowned at the sight of Percy. They could tell something had happened, but none of them could tell what. They were just going to have to ask Percy about it. Athena was first to break the silence.

"The stone?" she asked as she held out her hand.

Percy, still looking down at the floor, slowly fished the Philosopher's Stone out his pocket and without looking tossed it up into Athena's hand. Athena raised the stone to her eye level and inspected it closer, before giving a satisfied nod and placing it in her pocket. Poseidon was next to speak, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room while Athena inspected the stone.

"So how did it go?"

"Yeah," said Hermes as he leaned forward interested in the answer, "How'd you get the stone?"

Percy glanced at Thalia quickly before looking back down at the floor. He began retelling the story of how he and Thalia arrived on the Shore of North Brother Island and were instantly assaulted by the Eidolons in the bodies of the dead brought back to life with the stone. He told them how he and Thalia escaped the horde and eventually found their way to the man in control with the stone. Percy told them of the quick fight with the mysterious Eidolon and what he said about his master. Percy paused for a few moments and everyone wondered what was wrong with him before he continued with the story.

He told them of how Thalia went missing his hours of searching and finally finding her on the beach. Then he told them what the Eidolon in her body said and then told them how it simply disappeared. Everyone looked at him suspiciously. Just disappeared? That didn't sound very likely, but when Percy insisted they had no choice but to believe, he was the only one there to see it in the first place. Once the meeting adjourned, a few of the gods got up to talk to the two demigods, but as soon as the meeting was over Percy stood and practically dashed out of the Throne room.

**FLASHBACK END:**

That had been about a week ago, and Percy was only getting worse time went on. Thalia turned and walked towards her cabin. She didn't feel like doing much right now. Her best friend was hurting right now and there was nothing she could do about it. This whole situation made her feel useless. How was it that she was tied for strongest demigod at the camp, she could summon bolts of lightning from the sky for fucks sake, and yet right now when it mattered she was helpless? Without a sound she reached her cabin and walked straight in, never noticing the concerned looks of Chiron and Annabeth, who passing by on a walk, as she entered.

Annabeth let out a dejected sigh as she felt her friends sadness roll off her in waves.

"Chiron what can we do?" Annabeth asked, turning to the old hero trainer, "I hate seeing her like this."

He looked down at the eleven year old child of Athena and replied,

"The only one who can help Thalia is Pursues, but he is in no shape to help anyone right now let alone Thalia."

"Something happened on their last quest. Something made Percy act the way he is, I just wish he would tell us so we could help."

"I do as well, but you know how stubborn that boy is. He'd rather shoulder every ones burdens himself then let his be known. If Thalia can't get him to open up, then I don't know who can."

With those last words, the two turned and walked back to the Big House, never noticing the small chocolate brown haired girl sitting on the opposite side of Thalia's cabin, a small pale blue flame resting in her palms, a sad smile adorning her face as she watched what was happening to the two children. She looked up at the sky, determination setting on her face, and disappeared in a flash of flames.

**THREE HOURS LATER:**

Percy groaned lightly as he popped his back and ascended from the lake depths and took in the darkening sky. It had taken him a while to get himself back to full health and mentally strong enough to deal with Thalia, Chiron, and Annabeth. He truly appreciated the fact that they were trying to help, but this was something they wouldn't understand. He hated how he was hurting Thalia, his best fri….oh who was he kidding. Percy knew he had a crush on his longtime pal and it was only getting stronger as the days went by. How couldn't he? She was amazing in his eyes! She looked gorgeous in her dark punk rocker clothes, and her awesome personality made sure he was never bored of her company. The way she looked at him with her electric blue eyes, and the power she could command, power equal if not stronger than his….

Yeah, Percy had it bad.

He couldn't tell her though. It's not that he didn't want to it's that he didn't know how to, and then the whole first task thing happened and now he could hardly look at her without remembering killing her. The fates seemed to really like to pick on him. He reached into the pockets of his shorts and pulled out his IPod, turning it into a ukulele again, and began to strum the tune for "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars as he walked towards the dining pavilion. In no time he reached his table and watched as a plate with a bacon cheese burger and some fries was put in front of him, and he conjured up some blue coke. He didn't know why he wanted it blue; it just felt right for some reason. He grabbed his plate and walked to the fire where the campers sacrificed some of their food for the gods. As Percy scrapped of a portion of his fries and burger for his father, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hestia, he nodded in acknowledgement to the goddess who was tending the fire next to him with a small smile on her face, a collection of gasps sounded behind him.

Percy turned and was greeted with the sight of the god of war, Ares, smirking down at him in all his glory. He raised his hand, beckoning the young demigod over,

"Get over here kid, your task begins shortly."

Percy fought down the rising anger in his chest and turned towards the god. As he walked towards the god the negative emotions he felt only seemed to intensify, fueling his anger and hatred. It took everything he had not to lash out then and there, and even then he could feel his control slipping. Suddenly as if someone ran cool water over his soul, his anger began to dissipate and was replaced with a calm serenity. He glanced back and smiled at Hestia which she returned before continuing to the center of the pavilion. Once in front of the god he looked up towards the towering fifteen foot man and asked a question.

"What's the task?"

Ares smirk only widened as he began to explain the task that the demigods were going to have to partake in.

"It's simple punk; I've taken time out of my busy schedule to amass a large amount of monsters, around two hundred or so. You are going to fight and kill them all. No nectar, no ambrosia, just your weapons and your enemies. The monsters are somewhere in Texas, and you've got five days to finish."

Percy just stared at the god incredulously. Thalia and he had to travel halfway across the country to Texas, and kill two hundred monsters in the span of five days. How the hell was he even supposed to get to Texas in five days!? Ares saw the look on Percy's face and gave a snort.

"Calm it kid I'll give you transportation," grunted Ares, and with a flick of his wrist an all-black Harley appeared.

It seemed normal enough, but knowing the god of war there was something off, and dangerous, about that bike.

"How is that supposed to get me to Texas in time?" Percy muttered.

"Don't worry kid, you'll be there with enough time to spare," the god said with a creepy grin, "You're time starts tomorrow kid, you better get a move on."

With that Ares disappeared in a blood red flash of light leaving the campers in shock of the events that just transpired. Before anyone could recover from their shock and speak to him Percy turned and began walking towards Thalia's cabin. He arrived in minutes and knocked on the door, but when no one entered he pushed it open and walked inside. Thalia's cabin was always weird to him. Not because it looked weird or anything, it was just the fact that it had a statue of Zeus in the corner of the room. That statue scared the shit out of him, as if it would come alive and throw lightning at him at any time. Percy turned to the left and saw Thalia asleep in her bed still dressed in the clothes she walked inside in, a blissful expression on her face. Percy's smiled softly at the sight. He approached softly and crouched down so that his face was in front of hers, a small blush on his face.

"I wonder what her lips feel like…." He thought as he gazed at her sleeping face before shaking his head, "No Percy, now's not the time. You can worry about it later if she doesn't kill you for putting her through this."

He fought off the sadness creeping in. He didn't want her to worry anymore, so he had to be happy, as happy as he could appear to be at least. He let a devilish grin sprout on his face, and leaned in so his mouth was next to her ear. He inhaled deeply and then,

"SPARKY WAKE UP!"

For the foreseeable future, Thalia would deny the squeal of terror that escaped her lips before she decked Percy in the face. She would forever say it was someone else, even if they were the only two in the cabin. After recovering from the blow to the face Percy quickly explained the events that had transpired at the dining pavilion and a few minutes later the two emerged. Opting to leave now to get some extra time, the two went to Percy's cabin so he could change clothes. He stripped from his training clothes and put on a pair of red cargo pants with a long sleeve black shirt and boots. His rings in place and a few throwing knives and smoke pellets (Gotta love the Stoll brothers and their prank supplies) in his pockets and he was ready to leave.

Once they reached the dining pavilion and saw the bike, a wicked grin spread across the daughter of Zeus' face and she quickly shouted out,

"I'm driving!"

Percy looked at her slightly shocked from the outburst.

"What!?" he cried, "I wanted to drive!"

She just looked at him with a smug smile on her face and replied,

"Doesn't matter I called it."

"You're too young to drive! You're only fourteen!"

She just looked at him with a deadpanned expression,

"We're the same age, and I'm a few months older than you so the young one in this situation is you."

Percy opened his mouth to reply, but shut it when he heard how swiftly his flimsy argument was shot down.

"….Touché," he muttered as he crossed his arms and looked away from Thalia who wore a triumphant smile.

The demigods around them just watched, talking amongst themselves in excited tones as they watched to children of the big three prepare to embark on their next journey. Chiron and Annabeth approached the two before the got on the motorcycle.

"Be safe you two," Chiron said, "I expect both of you back here in five days, and in one piece."

"Yeah," Annabeth said, "You guys can't help me on my first quest if you die so early on. So don't get killed by any monsters…and don't kill each other. You've come close to it before."

The two blushed in embarrassment remembering some of their more…competitive moments. Saying their goodbyes, Thalia hopped onto the hog and the beast roared to life. A wild look filled her eyes as she looked at Percy, who was getting paler every second, with a wide grin.

"Come along Percy. I want to get a move on."

Percy shakily climbed on behind Thalia and wrapped his arms tightly around her midsection, getting internal blushes from both of them.

"Uhhh…Thalia?" Percy warily asked.

She turned her head so she could see Percy in all his nervous glory.

"Have you ever driven one of these before?"

She just her head back turned and chuckled. She had a few times when she, Luke, and Annabeth had been on the run, hey when you're running from monsters you do what you have to do, but a thought flashed in her head and she turned her head to look at him again with a completely stoic face as she replied.

"…Nope."

Percy screams mingled with the mad cackling of Thalia as the two shot out of camp at high speeds, a trail of fire left in their wake as they departed to start their second task.


	12. Trial of Blood

**The next chapter of Hydromancer has arrived! Percy and Thalia have left on their journey to destroy the two hundred monster strong force. How are they going to accomplish such a feat? Read on to find out!**

At the speed they were going, Percy and Thalia would reach Texas within the hour with three and a half days to spare. However, not even an hour into the journey they ran into a major problem, a problem that could possibly be their downfall.

"Where the hell in Texas are these monsters supposed to be!?" Thalia shouted as she and Percy, who was clinging to her waist for dear life, flew across the long, lone two lane road.

They had been traveling the entire time, only stopping to rest for a few hours before burning rubber again. The ride had been terrifying for Percy, clinging onto Thalia, afraid to fall off of the metal contraption they were riding on. Thalia thought it was hilarious. Percy could deal with flying through the air, fighting monsters, and undead zombies, but the minute he has to get on a motorcycle he turns into a terrified mess.

Percy was able to peal his face from her back long enough to reply to her question,

"I don't know! That idiot never told me! He just said they were somewhere in Texas! He probably didn't say just to make our lives difficult!"

**MEANWHILE IN OLYMPUS:**

"Ares you didn't tell them where it was!" bellowed Zeus as the Olympians and Hestia sat around the throne room.

Still worried about his son, Poseidon decided to watch the two demigods take on Ares' quest in case it revealed some clue as to what was troubling Percy. Zeus and the rest of the Olympian council plus Hestia soon followed suit, wanting to see how strong the two demigods really were. Before they could get the iris message pulled up to watch, Ares started to brag about how the two would fail the task. When Athena and Aphrodite questioned him on why he revealed that he told them how he only told the demigods the state and not the specific location.

Which lead to the current argument.

"What? I told them they were in Texas!" argued Ares, "You guys just said the task couldn't be suicidal. You never said anything about hard to find."

"You expect two demigods on a motorcycle, which I still question why you gave one to two fourteen year olds, to scour the entirety of Texas, and defeat the two hundred monsters in the span of three days?" growled Poseidon.

Ares gulped when he saw the look of fury on the sea god's face. He turned to see if he had any support from any other gods, but was met with disapproving and angry glares from the rest of the gods in attendance, well except from Hades and Dionysus. Zeus and Poseidon were about to unleash their anger on the war god, but they were beaten to it by two of the most unlikely gods. With a quick yank on the color of his leather jacket, Ares came face to face with an angry Aphrodite and Hestia.

"You will tell them where the monsters are now!" spoke Aphrodite, the anger permeating from her voice actually causing the war god to shudder.

All the other gods watched on in shock and awe as they watched the two goddesses mean mug Ares. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home, two of the most peace loving goddesses in attendance, were about to rip Ares a new one. Hermes and Apollo already had a bowl of popcorn ready for the coming drama.

"Why should I?" he replied in an effort to sound tough, the slight tremor to his voice defeating the purpose.

A cheery smile appeared on the two goddess' faces, making them more menacing than before.

"Because if you don't," began Hestia as she raised her hand and a ball of Greek fire appeared, "I'll burn your temple down, and every time you get it rebuilt it shall meet the same fate."

"And I will make sure the only things attracted to you for the rest of your miserable immortal life will be men," finished Aphrodite in a peppy voice.

The other gods fought to keep their laughter in check as Ares paled at the two threats, besides Apollo and Hermes who were rolling on the ground howling in laughter. Even the normally stern Athena was sporting a giant grin at the prospect of the war god being hit on by dudes for the rest of eternity.

"O-ok-okay you've made your point," stammered Ares, "B-but I can't tell them anyways. Olympians aren't allowed to interfere in quests. It's part of the ancient rules."

"This isn't a quest," countered Aphrodite.

"It would be best that we don't try our luck with them though," stated Athena.

"I'll go then," replied Hestia, "I'm not an Olympian anymore."

Everyone turned to Zeus, who nodded his head in acceptance before speaking,

"Very well. Hestia, you may go inform the demigods."

She gave him a smile before turning back to Ares, who was still being detained by the two goddesses, and asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"So where are they Ares," she asked, "And if you lie to me…I'll hurt you."

The war god paled even further before answering,

"The monsters are in the middle of the Chihuahua dessert."

Hestia smiled,

"Good boy. Now to go visit my favorite demigods! I'll be back soon Aphrodite. Then we can continue to work on our little….project."

"Alright, say high to them for me!" replied Aphrodite as she watched Hestia flash out.

That little exchange got the attention of the rest of the gods. What "project" could the two lf them be working on?

"Daughter," began Zeus, stopping Aphrodite as she was walking out of the throne room, "What project are you working on with Hestia?"

She glanced back at the gods before continuing on her way out. All the gods paled at the sight of that look. Aphrodite's face was sporting a devilish smile that threatened to split her face in two, and her eyes held a spark of mischief in them. All the gods knew that look. That was Aphrodite's 'Planning the Couple of the Century' look. They knew when she got that look that anything or anyone that tried to halt her plans would be completely an utterly destroyed. All the remaining gods took one look at each other before coming to a silent consensus.

They all flashed out of the throne room to the safety of their temples, watching the task long forgotten.

**IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE IN TEXAS:**

The small orange flame tried it's best to combat the chilly night air, but its warmth could only extend so far. Percy was very thankful for his long sleeves as he and Thalia huddled around the small flame they created with dried cactus and tumbleweed. They had reached Texas when dark hit a few hours ago, and had stopped to rest for the night before they decided on where they should look first for the monsters. It was going to be nearly impossible for them to finish this with the allotted time they had, but that would be something to focus on tomorrow morning. Right now the two were worried about staying warm through the night.

While he was still pretty cold shown by the occasional shiver, his clothes were keeping him moderately warm. Thalia wasn't so lucky. Her sweatpants and t-shirt offered little protection, evident by the way she sat huddled up with her arms around her legs shivering every time the wind hit her back. Neither one was prepared for a cold night, in Texas of all places.

Percy's gaze kept flicking over to Thalia's shivering form sitting a few feet away from him. He knew she was way colder than he was, but she was too stubborn to admit it. He wanted to help her warm up, but he didn't know how. It's not like they had any blankets or anything. A thought flowed into his head, a thought that wasn't originally his. A thought placed in his mind by another being, but he was too distracted by the actual thought to notice. A giant blush appeared on his face as he mentally sputtered in shock and embarrassment.

'I can't do that!' he shouted in his head, 'Thalia would probably kill me!'

The more he thought about it, and the more he glanced over at the shivering form of Thalia, the more he considered going through with it. Moments later he mentally relented. Percy looked down, took a deep breath, then stood and walked over to Thalia. Thalia looked up at Percy when she saw him stand and approach her. Before she could open her mouth to ask what he was doing he sat down behind her, legs spread so she could sit in between them, and pulled her into his chest. The blush that welled up covered her entire shocked face. She turned her head and yelled,

"What the Hades do you think you're doing!?"

"You're cold aren't you?" he replied, the blush on his face equaling her own, "If we share our body heat it'll keep us both warm."

'She should be happy I didn't go through with the actual idea that had popped in his head,' he thought as his blush intensified, 'I don't think I'd still be alive if I told her she and I should strip naked and cuddle to get warm.'

She calmed down and looked forward into the fire again, her hands resting on top of Percy's as their warmth mingled together. Percy silently released the breath he was holding and rested his head on her left shoulder. The awkward air between them dissipated and the two lapsed into a relaxed silence, small smiles on their faces. After a while Thalia drifted to sleep, leaning back into Percy. He shifted Thalia so she was lying on the ground on her side next to him, her head resting on his chest. A few minutes later he was about to follow Thalia's example, his eyes drifting shut, when he heard a whoosh of flames and soft giggling. He opened his eyes and was greeted to the sight of a smiling, chocolate haired eight year old.

"Comfortable Percy?" asked Hestia as she tried to stifle her giggles.

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything Hestia placed her finger over his mouth silencing him.

"I won't be long. I just came to let you know the location of the mob of monsters."

Percy raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Hestia smile took on a dangerous glint.

"Let's just say me and a friend managed to…persuade him."

Percy shuddered at the tone she used. He never knew Hestia could sound so…deviant.

"They're in the Chihuahua dessert in West Texas," she began as she walked over to the Harley the two were riding on.

She touched the ride and it was covered in a warm orange glow that receded seconds after it appeared.

"There, now when you ride tomorrow the bike will automatically take you to the horde," she explained as she walked back to the fire, "But until then enjoy your cuddling."

Percy looked up and mouthed a thank you. Hestia smiled and nodded before she walked into the small fire and disappeared in a fiery flash.

Percy laid his head back down and sighed happily. Well that major problem was suddenly solved. He looked down at the sleeping Thalia and smiled. Yeah, he guessed he would take Hestia's advice. He snuggled up closer to her and closed his eyes in content. Moments later as he was falling asleep he felt something wet on his cheek. He cracked his eyes open and almost immediately they widened. Thalia had tilted her head up and planted a kiss on Percy's cheek while she was sleep. The blush that flashed onto Percy's face was brighter than the fire. Moments later he was sleep, a giant grin on his face.

**THE NEXT DAY:**

Thalia wouldn't admit it, but waking up in Percy's arms was probably her favorite way to wake up. She yawned widely as her eyes fluttered open to the sight of a sleeping Percy. She smiled softly as she sat up and gazed back down at her best friend. He looked so happy, so peaceful when he slept; not at all like the glazed over haunted look he'd been sporting when he was awake. She wished he could have the look he had now all the time, but it seemed like the fates were to cruel to let that happen. She shook her head, ridding herself of that train of thought. She'd have time to ponder fates cruelty later, but for now she and Percy had a task to finish. She was about to lean down and shake Percy awake, but she stopped her hand right before it connected with his shoulder. A devilish grin worked its way onto her face. She knew exactly how she was going to wake Percy up.

She leaned down until her mouth was right next to his ear, the warm breath on the side of his face coaxing him out of his sleep slowly. Before he could awaken, Thalia took a deep breath and let one thought run through her mind before she commenced with her act.

'Payback's a bitch'

"WAKE UP KELPY!"

One dead waking scream later, a pouting and angry Percy sat next to Thalia who was roaring with laughter, trying to talk but only succeeding in relaying a bunch of useless babble.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked her after she calmed down enough to form coherent speech.

"It was plenty necessary," she giggled, "I needed to wake you, and I wanted revenge. It was a win-win situation if you ask me."

"Ughh, whatever," he replied, "Well let's get going since I'm up now. We've got to cover a lot of ground to get to the horde."

Thalia looked at him in a perplexed manner, before he tapped himself on the forehead before continuing.

"Oh yeah you were sleep. Hestia came and told me where the group of monsters is, and then she made it so that the bike will take us there when we decide to go."

"Well that's great!" she exclaimed, "Now we don't have to scour the entire state! Let's go and get this over with."

She leapt up the excitement of knowing where to go infecting her whole being. She sat on the bike and looked at Percy expectantly. He groaned. He hated that metal contraption, but he knew that thing was the only way they were going to get to the monsters and finish the quest on time. He walked over and sat down behind Thalia, immediately wrapping his arms around her waist and mashing his face into her back.

"Let me know when we get there."

She grinned, started the bike, and began to drive in the same direction they were yesterday when a thought occurred to her.

"Wait….how is the bike going to lead us to…"

She never got to finish as the bike suddenly hooked to the right and shot forward, the trail of flames turning the sand they were driving over to glass as the two screamed, one in abject horror the other in complete and total excitement. The bike seemed to almost warp the world around them with how fast it was going. It would be two hours before either would set foot on the ground again, the entire time Percy never looked up.

The duo was currently looking down on the horde from the top of a small mountain. Ares wasn't kidding. There were about two hundred assorted monsters down below ranging from Hellhounds, Scythian Dracanae, Harpies, Telekhines, and even a few Cyclops's.

"How are we going to even take them all out?" asked Thalia, "There is at least twice the amount of monsters than four years ago when we took out all those hellhounds, and we barely survived that."

"We need a good surprise attack," said Percy as he tried to think up a strategy, "If we can catch them off guard, then we can take out a large number of them without any trouble."

"Yeah but how are we supposed to do that? And what about after?"

"Well…I hate to say this, but I'll be counting on you to do the most damage. There isn't much water in the ground or in the air for me to work with so I'm limited to my earth shaker abilities, and I'm not that good with those."

"Damn your right….well do what you can. If we take out the Cyclopses first then we should be able to deal with the rest of them right? There are only three two of them."

"Yeah but there in the middle of the group. How are we supposed to get there without being attacked?"

Thalia was silent as she pondered the question. Her gaze wandered over to the bike they had ridden over on, and an idea began to form in her head while a grin formed on her face and began to widen.

"Well I don't have a plan for after, but I know how we can take out a good portion of the monsters and the Cyclopses."

Percy looked over as Thalia began to explain the plan. A matching grin covered his face soon after he heard the plan.

"Alright," he replied, "Let's do this!"

The monsters didn't know what hit them. One minute they were chilling, and the next thing they knew a motorcycle was flying strait towards them. That wasn't even the worst part. A lightning bolt struck the cycle just as it reached the Cyclopses in the middle, detonating it in a massive inferno of death and pain. Death was instantaneous. The Cyclopses and a large portion of the monsters were vaporized in the explosion as the rest began to panic.

It was then that the children of the big three struck.

Thalia's hands blurred as knife hilts began sprouting from the skulls of harpies as she and Percy charged the army of beast, picking them off one by one as they fell to earth and dissolved into golden dust, mixing in with the sand. Percy ran ahead and stomped hard on the ground causing the ground to shake, disorienting the monsters even more. His silver hunting knives flashed into his hands and he began hacking and slashing, causing monsters to dissolve left and right. Not far behind, Thalia's spear and shield appeared in her hands as she surged forward and struck a Hellhound in the face with the edge of her shield. The beast dissolved upon impact, and Thalia moved onto the next one. The two carved out a circle of death amidst the sea of monsters and held their ground.

Thalia's spear and shield combo made her able to simultaneously attack and defend left her relatively safe, but Percy wasn't in the same boat as her. His weapon choice made it so he couldn't attack and defend simultaneously so he couldn't easily dodge simultaneous attacks, and when he attacked it more than often took more than one hit. The desert heat was sapping his strength, this was the wrong place to be a son of Poseidon, making his moves slower and sluggish. As good as he was he couldn't avoid all the strikes thrown at him. The cuts began to mount for every monster slain a cuts would appear.

One on his shoulder

His right side

His left arm

His left leg

His chest

His cheek

His right arm

His back

The strikes began to mount as his blood stained the sand red. They had been at it for fifteen minutes and were making good time, but at this rate Percy wouldn't be alive to see the end. Thalia glanced behind her to see how Percy was fairing and her heart nearly stopped. She saw the many cuts all over his body, the blood running down his body. She stabbed and Telekhine with her spear as she charged her shield full of lightning. She leapt back and grabbed a surprised Percy around the waist and then jumped straight up in the air. While in the air she lobbed her shield into the ground. The lightning discharged in the form of a massive shockwave that killed a few of the monsters, but knocked the rest back ten feet.

Percy fell to his knees when they landed in the clearing, fatigue showing clear as day on his face as he panted heavily. Thalia looked over at her friend, worry in her eyes but before she could voice her concerns he stood with an unreadable look in his eyes. Her eyes widened in shock when the blood on the ground and covering Percy rose and swirled around them. A little flew off and coated his hunting knives, lengthening them till they were as large as swords while the rest formed into the shape of a small crimson dragon. He shot forward into the still stunned monsters, hacking into the beasts while the dragon flew around him, deflecting any stray blows that came his way. All that happened within the span of a few seconds.

Thalia shook the shock from her system and resumed her attack, charging her weapons with lightning as she did so. Soon they fell into the old rhythm of battle, attack, parry, dodge, attack, attack, parry, dodge, attack, attack. Five minutes turned to ten, then ten to fifteen, fifteen to twenty. Time became irrelevant as they struck down monster after monster, until everything went quiet. The roar of the beast was oddly silent. The bloodlust charged air had dissipated. Their weapons lowered then disappeared as the hardened look faded from their eyes and they realized they were the only living things left in the area. They had completed their task. Two hundred monsters versus two demigods and the victory went to the demigods.

Percy didn't know what came over him, but a chuckle slipped from his lips, which soon began to expand until it was a full blown laugh. Thalia looked at her friend with worry in her eyes. She walked over to her friend and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Percy," she asked, "Are you ok?"

His laughter died down as he turned to look back at Thalia. She could now see the tears falling down his face and the fading consciousness in his eyes. Her heart really did stop for a moment this time.

He was dying.

He fell to his knees again where Thalia caught him and laid him on his back. Tears were flowing down her face now as well as she watched her friend's life slowly fading. Percy vision was blurring as the blood continued to flow from his body. He shakily reached a hand up and attempted to brush the tears from his friends face, smearing blood on her cheek in the process. He couldn't speak at the moment, his voice was failing him.

He couldn't tell his mom sorry for not being strong enough.

He couldn't tell his dad sorry he couldn't spend any more time with him.

He couldn't tell Thalia how sorry he was for dying.

How much he admired her strength.

How happy he was to have been her friend.

How beautiful she was.

How much he loved her.

With the last of his strength he sat himself up. He may not be able to tell her how much he loved her, but he could show her. Thalia had her eyes shut tight, her lips moving silently, or maybe he just couldn't hear any more, as if speaking to someone. He reached up once more and cupped the side of her face. Her eyes shot open just as Percy lips connected with hers. Though it only lasted for a few seconds, for them it was a lifetime. Percy used all that time to pour his feelings into the kiss before he collapsed back into the dirt.

The last thing he saw before his vision faded to black was Thalia's screaming something at him, a phrase he didn't need sound to know what she said. As unconsciousness claimed him, he thought over all the things he was leaving behind and one last thought flashed through his head.

'I don't want to go….'

**Aaaand that's a wrap folks! The two have successfully completed their second trial, but at the cost of Percy's life?! Is this really the end!? You'll just have to come back next time to find out!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging Out.**


	13. Fading Soul Part 1

**The next chapter of Hydromancer has arrived! We left off last chapter with the death of Percy!? How are the gods reacting? How's Thalia reacting? Read on to find out!**

**Previously on Hydromancer:**

_The last thing he saw before his vision faded to black was Thalia's screaming something at him, a phrase he didn't need sound to know what she said. As unconsciousness claimed him, he thought over all the things he was leaving behind and one last thought flashed through his head._

'_I don't want to go….'_

**1 WEEK LATER:**

Violent waves crashed against the beach and rain pelted the earth from a violent thunder storm that rattled the skies with its deafening thunder. The mortals in New York were surprised at the sudden storm that sprung up a week ago. It came out of nowhere, literally. The sky was a clear blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight, but that all changed in moments. After its appearance, the storm stayed firmly in place, thundering over the New York area, leaving the surrounding areas storm free and confusing the nation. How could a storm not move? Most people were calling it an act of god. Little did they know they were close, just the wrong god.

In the throne room, the sight was more than depressing. A lone figure sat next to an orb of water suspended in mid air, another figure floating in the middle of it. The figure sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, face stuffed down into her thighs, and her arms wrapped around them in a protective embrace. Tear streaks stained black with eyeliner sat long dried onto her face underneath puffy red eyes. The large black hoodie she wore covered her short spiky hair, and black wires dangled from the ear buds stuck into her ears. "Alone" by Sleeping with Sirens blared from the ear buds connected to a familiar looking IPod clutched loosely in her hands. The music was able to block out the external noise, but the sounds coming from inside her weren't so easily defeated.

Flashbacks of the moment Percy fell flashed through her mind, over and over, assaulting her already pained soul. She had prayed for the first time in many years for a miracle. She prayed for her father, anyone, to come and save Percy that day in the Chihuahua desert. Her prayers had been answered, and her father Zeus had come and took them to Olympus. Just in time too, any later and he really would've died out there, but something was wrong.

'Why is it like this?' she thought, 'He's always been the strong one. He's always been the one to help me out, and now he's….'

She immediately stopped that train of thought. She wouldn't believe it. He wasn't going to die. Percy was just fine, sleeping the days away in his water bubble. His injuries had healed up days ago so she knew he was ok.

'If he was alright, then why isn't he awake yet?'

"Shut up…" she whispered to herself, "He'll be ok…he'll wake up….he has to…."

A stray memory found its way into Thalia's head, one that made her smile slightly. The most she's smiled in days.

**FLASHBACK:**

Thalia lay at the top of Half-Blood Hill, lazily watching the clouds roll by. It was one of the rare days that Percy and her didn't train, and was used to just relax. She had been laying up there for a couple hours now, content with the world at the moment, when her bubble of tranquility was shattered by a terrified Percy sprinting towards her.

"THALIA! GET UP! SOMETHING WEIRD IS GOING ON!"

Thalia shot up, panic flaring in her stomach. Percy never freaked out unless it was something serious. She looked down the hill to see him charging full speed up to her. If he didn't slow down then he was going to…

CRASH!

Percy tumbled into the sitting form of Thalia, bowling them both over until they came to a stop with Percy lying on top of a flustered Thalia. Before she could yell at him for being a kelp head he began shouting at the top of his lungs again, completely ignorant of the position they were in.

"THALIASOMETHINGWEIRDISHAPPENING!YOU'LLNEVERBELIEVEWHAT'SBEENHAPPENING!I'MFREAKINGOUT!EVERYTIMEIGONEARTHESTABLESIHEARVOICESINMYHEADANDIDON'TKNOWWHATTODO!I'MFREAKINGOUTYOUGOTTAHE…."

Thalia finally had enough of Percy shouting in her face and reached up and grabbed him by his lips, effectively silencing the excited demigod. She gave him one of her patented Thalia death glares and he immediately paled.

"Now I'm going to let go of your lips, and when I do…I want you to CALMLY….tell me what you need to tell me. Do you understand?"

Seeing him nod his head in confirmation she reluctantly let go of his lips, afraid he would begin shouting in her face again, but he wasn't too keen on getting beat up so he calmed himself enough to speak in a normal manner.

"I hear people that aren't there! Near the stable! Every time I pass by there I can hear people calling me "My Lord" and "Young Prince"! It's freaking me out!"

Thalia just stared at him blankly, trying with all her might to fight down the laughter that was bubbling up in her chest. It was all in vain though, when a few moments later it exploded out of her, much to the shock of Percy, and tears began rolling down her face with how hard she was laughing. She let him believe he was going crazy for two weeks before she finally relented and told him about the son of Poseidon's ability to talk to horses.

**FLASHBACK END:**

Thalia remembered that day three years ago. That was probably one of the funniest days of her life. As she remembered this fond memory, more and more began to surface, as if it was her body's subconscious way to help her deal with her emotions right now.

**FLASHBACK:**

"So this is a building where they do, what's it called? Karaoke?" asked Percy as he Thalia, Annabeth, and Luke entered a dimly lit building.

The room they entered was filled with a bunch of kids ranging from eighth to twelfth that'd just gotten out of school and were enjoying their Friday night. It had a stage directly in the back with a two microphones on stage, an audience area filled with tables and chairs, and a small bar area where all sorts of drinks were sold, from chocolate milk to vodka.

"Yeah Perce," said Luke as he stifled the laugh threatening to bubble out of his mouth, "This is where they do karaoke."

"But what is karaoke?" he asked in reply.

"You'll find out soon enough Percy," Thalia explained, "Just let us guide you."

Thalia and Luke smirked widely as they herded Percy to the stage while Annabeth went to talk to the store owner. She was listening intently to what the daughter of Athena was saying as an amused grin began to stretch across her face. She glanced up at Percy, who by now had been pushed up on stage much to his protest, and nodded her head in agreement as she walked onto the stage next to Percy and picked up one of the microphones.

"Alright everybody looks like we've got our first act of the night!" exclaimed the store owner as the crowd of kids erupted into applause, "This young man next to me, Percy Jackson, is going to be singing for us in a few moments."

Percy went into shock as soon as he heard her say he was going to sing. He'd never sung in front of anyone besides his mom Serena! Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth had been trying to get him to sing at the campfire for the past two years after Thalia stumbled onto him singing on the lake one day. He'd vehemently declined and evaded every time they had tried to trap him into singing for them, but it looks like they finally cornered him. Now he had to sing on stage.

In front of his friends….

….And a crowd of strangers….

….Well damn…

Percy tried to stutter out a reply to the store owner's statement, to deny the claim, but before he could she spoke to him.

"What song are you going to sing for us sweetie?"

Too petrified to answer, Thalia ran up on stage and grabbed the spare mic and answered for him.

"My friend Percy is going to sing "Supernatural" by Ken Ashcorp," said Thalia before she handed the mic to a glaring Percy.

He glared at the retreating form of his best friend as she casually strolled back to the table where the rest of the demigods sat. To add insult to injury she chose the song she caught him singing all those years ago. He had no choice now, he couldn't back out. The store owner walked off stage behind the counter, held up her hand, and began to count down from five.

Five

He was going to kill Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth for this.

Four

He was going to take his time destroying each and every one of them.

Three

Then once he was done tormenting them he would dump them in the bottom of the ocean.

Two

He wondered if he could get the sharks to eat them?

One

Did he mention he was going to kill them for this?

He closed his eyes as the beat began to play, forgetting that he was in front of a crowd of strangers and his evil friends, and let the sound of the music take him. When he started to sing he forgot where he was, drifting in the melody he was creating. The entire crowd went silent as they listened to the thirteen year old sing. Although it was only minutes, it seemed like hours passed before he finally finished his song. When he opened his eyes he was greeted with the sight of a shocked silent crowd. Mistaking their silence as bad, Percy hung his head and started walking off stage.

Then the applause started.

It was slow at first, but it quickly built up until the entire room was cheering, crying for an encore. The store owner walked up to Percy and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Not the best I've heard, but you've got the potential to have a great voice kid! So what do you say? Wanna sing another for us?"

It would be hours later when the group of Demigods left the karaoke bar, Percy's animosity for his friends long forgotten in the good times they had.

It was that night that Thalia began to fall for Percy.

**FLASHBACK END:**

Thalia chuckled softly as she remembered the night at the karaoke bar. Ever since that night, sometimes she would ask Percy to sing songs for her, and sometimes she would join him. That was one of her most favorite memories of her and Percy, but the definitive favorite had to be the Percy-archery incident.

**FLASHBACK:**

The entire camp was gathered around the archery range surrounding Percy, Chiron, and Thalia. The argument drew the attention of the campers and soon a crowd gathered around the two angry demigods. The two had had an argument earlier that morning on who was better with weapons. The argument exploded into a full on competition where the two were competing on who was best with a variety of weapons. Swords, spears, knives, even guns were all used in the competition and the results up to this point showed that Percy and Thalia were about even when it came to weapons. It all boiled down to this final weapons test, archery.

"Now you two will both have a quiver of four arrows each. Both of you will fire the arrows at the target fifty feet away and whoever is closest to the bull's-eye wins," explained Chiron as he handed the two of them their bows and quivers.

Thalia stepped up first, pulling an arrow from her quiver and placing it on her bow. She turned to Percy and smirked at him before turning and beginning her turn. She fired all four of her arrows within five minutes and actually did pretty good. All her arrows hit the target and one even landed close to the bulls-eye. She turned back to Percy when she finished and laughed.

"Beat that Kelpy!"

Percy didn't respond. Instead he strode forward and stood in front of his target. He took his stance and notched an arrow, a look of serious concentration on his face. Thalia was getting worried. From the look Percy was giving off it seemed like he was already very good at archery. He never mentioned having shot a bow and arrow before, and Thalia had never seen him use one when they trained together so she was worried about the look of confidence he was giving off. He raised the bow and pulled the string back taught. He glanced at Thalia and smirked before releasing the arrow. Everyone in the surrounding areas faces took on a shocked look as they watched the arrow fly.

The arrow flew straight towards the target and just when Thalia thought it was over for her, the oddest thing happened. The arrow curved upward and hit the tree the target was pinned to and bounced off. It began to ricochet off of many trees and objects in the surrounding area, prompting the surrounding campers to scream in fear and duck for cover. Finally, it bounced off a stray shield lying on the ground and flew out of sight high in the air towards the cabins. The campers stood slowly, uneasy chuckles filtering through the quiet air, and then the unthinkable happened. An explosion ripped through the air, spreading dirt and debris far and wide across the camp. Shock covered every ones face as the charred pieces fell to the earth, trails of smoke and ash coming from them.

Pieces of something very recognizable.

Pieces of wood.

More specifically, wood from the Big House.

Silence reigned as the campers and Chiron watched the debris of the Big House rain down from the sky. Chiron turned to Percy, who was too stunned to move, and slowly walked over to him and took the arrow and quiver from him. He turned to the rest of the campers and spoke.

"From now on," he began with a serious tone, "Percy Jackson is not allowed to use bow and arrows. Under any circumstance. Ever."

Percy and the rest of the campers' whole heartedly agreed. It took them a week to rebuild the Big House. They were lucky that Mr. D was in Olympus during the event or there would've been Hades to pay.

**FLASHBACK END:**

A hand on her shoulder knocked Thalia out of her daydreaming. She looked up into sea blue eyes and the smile she didn't know she was wearing widened. Thalia reached up and pulled the earbuds from her ears as she stood, her knees popping from having been in that position for so long. She walked into the waiting embrace of Serena.

When Zeus flashed Thalia and Percy to the throne room to be treated by Apollo, Poseidon completely freaked. As he constructed the water ball for Percy to recover in, a thought occurred to him. He asked Artemis to take him where Serena lived, and a few minutes after they flashed out the two gods returned with a heavily crying naiad holding a small sphere of water from her lake. Poseidon mixed the water into the water sphere Percy was in so that technically speaking the ball was part of her lake, which meant she could come and visit without leaving her domain, an ability she exploited daily to visit her unconscious son.

The naiad smiled sweetly at the young demigod as she hugged her, taking in the disheveled state she was in.

"Thalia, have you been sleeping lately?" she asked, and then saw the look of sadness return to her face as she looked away.

"Thalia look at me," Serena said in a stern voice that made Thalia flinch, "You need to stop beating yourself up over this."

"If I had fought a bit harder…If I'd…If I'd done something….something more…"

"Thalia it's not your fault. You were fighting in the middle of a desert. As the demigod son of the sea god that is the worst place for him to fight. He knew the risks. Do you know why he keeps fighting?"

Thalia shook her head no, to which Serena continued.

"Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty. He fights so he can protect those he loves. From me, to Lord Poseidon, to you, he wants to protect us."

Thalia blushed when she heard the part about Percy protecting her. Percy really cared that much about her? Serena saw the shocked look on her face and chuckled.

"What? Is it that surprising that my son loves you? From what Aphrodite, Artemis, and Hestia have told me over the years about you it seems to me he loves you a great deal."

"If he loves me then why won't he let me help him?"

"Because," said the voice of Poseidon as he entered with the Olympians plus Hestia, "He has inherited from me the two traits that are his greatest strength and weakness."

"Loyalty and stubbornness," finished Athena as the Olympians went and sat in their respective thrones, and Hestia walked to the middle to sit with Thalia and Serena, "We've been talking and think that Percy's stubbornness is why he has not awakened yet."

"What do you mean?" asked Serena.

"Percy's physical injuries are all perfectly healed. So, the reason he's still unconscious is because his spirit is injured." Explained Apollo, "No doubt some stuff has happened over the years that hurt Percy…"

"And he's too much of a stubborn male to confide in someone," said Artemis as she continued Apollo's explanation, "Whatever he's holding in is hurting him so much that it's keeping him from waking."

Thalia digested the new information. It made sense. Percy had always been a stubborn person like she was, it's one of the reasons they argued so much. Knowing this only made her feel worse though. He'd been hurting, and not only had she allowed it to get this bad, but he might die because she did so.

"So how do we make him tell us?" asked Thalia, "There is no way he'll tell us willingly."

"Then we'll just have to do it unwillingly," said Zeus as he motioned for the wine god, "Dionysus, can you make it so that we can view Percy's memories?"

"I can," he replied.

"Then do so. If the boy will not tell us willingly, then we will find out unwillingly. We shall see what he has been holding in and upon viewing it we should be able to help him," reasoned Zeus.

"We're going awfully far for a mere demigod," muttered Hades, "Why not just let him die."

Six pairs of eyes turned and glared at the god of death, and Poseidon spoke in a warning tone,

"He is my son, and if you speak in such a manner about him again then you will feel my wraith."

Hades snorted then said,

"Would we go so far if he wasn't? If he was the demigod child of someone who wasn't part of the big three?"

The room went uncomfortably silent as the question was asked. The gods lowered their heads sadly because if they were honest with themselves, they knew the answer was no. The more they thought about it, the more they saw that they weren't the best parents. They couldn't directly interfere in quests due to ancient laws, but there was no reason they couldn't simply visit their children. Not to ask them to do some task, but just visit. Ok, they were horrible parents.

"Then change it," said Thalia catching the attention of all the gods present, "If you feel like crap about not paying attention to your kids then change it later, but Percy needs help right now. So let's deal with this first."

Thalia's words snapped the gods out of their sadness induced stupor. Dionysus pointed a finger at Percy and fired a beam of purple energy at him. It pierced through the sphere and hit the unconscious demigod in the forehead. Moments later it shot out strait into the air above the sphere and four screens appeared in the air. Static reigned on the screens at first, but moments later it began to clear up. Many of the gods raised their eyebrows at what appeared on the screens.

"Uhhhh, I don't know about you," said Hermes, "But, I can't help but wonder when Percy ever went to a place like that."

"That doesn't look like a memory," murmured Dionysus, "It must be what's happening in his mind right now."

"Well then let's watch this and see what unfolds. Obviously the fates seem to think we need to see this," said Athena, "Maybe this will give us a better insight on the state of his mind."

The occupants of the room nodded in silent agreement and turned their attention back to the screens. Thalia slid her hands into Serena and Hestia's as the events on the screen began to unfurl, scared to find out what was going on in her best friends head.

**That's the end for part one comrades! What exactly is unfolding in Percy's head? What kind of secrets will they find out from watching these events? Come back next time to find out!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging Out.**


	14. Fading Soul Part 2

**The next installment of Hydromancer is here! The gods, Thalia, and Serena are gathered in the throne room to watch Percy's memories in hopes that it'll show how they can help him, but something unexpected happened! What's going on in Percy's head!? Read on to find out!**

**Previously on Hydromancer:**

_"That doesn't look like a memory," murmured Dionysus, "It must be what's happening in his mind right now."_

"_Well then let's watch this and see what unfolds. Obviously the fates seem to think we need to see this," said Athena, "Maybe this will give us a better insight on the state of his mind."_

_The occupants of the room nodded in silent agreement and turned their attention back to the screens. Thalia slid her hands into Serena and Hestia's as the events on the screen began to unfurl, scared to find out what was going on in her best friends head._

**NOW:**

Waking up in random places was getting old for Percy, and this was by far the oddest place he's woken up in by far. He sat propped up by his arms as he took in the world around him. He was sitting on a glowing white platform with matching stairs ascending into the air to another larger platform. Everything else around them was pitch black, and Percy swore he could hear faint whispering swirling around the windless world he currently sat in. A giggle from behind him alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. He leapt up and turned around to see something that only added to the confusing nature of the situation. It was as if he was looking into a mirror, and that mirror melted away about six years of his life.

The younger him, who was grinning widely at him, was clad in an all white outfit similar to his that consist of shorts, an unzipped hoodie, and boots; the only difference between the two being that older Percy was wearing pants. They stared each other down for a few moments before the younger Percy spoke,

"You gonna stare all day, or you gonna get up and walk up the stairs?"

That snapped Percy out of his stupor. He stood and addressed the younger him,

"Who are you? Why do you look like a younger me? And where the hell am I?"

"In that order, I am you, because I am a younger you, and you're in your head."

Percy was getting irritated at the answers until the last one. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It would explain all the weirdness that was going on, but that only raised more questions. Why was he here? What was up the stairs behind him? Why hadn't he woken up yet? Was Thalia ok?

"Oh Thalia's fine! She's the one that saved us you know! You're here because you're keeping yourself from waking up, and the stairs are your only way to wake."

Percy looked at the stairs skeptically. It's not like he had many other options. It was either sit here on this small platform or go up the stairs, simple really. It was just….it seemed too easy. In a life where you had to fight tooth and nail for your survival to have someone give you the answer seemed….strange. The younger him saw the doubt on his face and laughed causing Percy's attention to swing back to him.

"Dude I'm you! In your head! Why would I try to sabotage myself? Besides just because you know climbing the stairs will make you wake up doesn't mean you'll make it to the top."

Percy's eyes narrowed. From what the kid said, it sounded like there was more to this than he was letting on.

"What do you mean I might not make it to the top? What's up these steps?"

"Now where's the fun in telling you everything?" the young Percy chuckled as a portal of swirling light sprung up behind him.

He slowly backed into it as he offered a last parting word, a haunting tone in his cheerful voice.

"Just know this. The shadows of the past can halt your assent towards the future."

Percy didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but he could feel the ominous undertone that the phrase carried. He turned and began to ascend the stairs as the mysterious whispers continued, all the while pondering what could possibly be at the top of these steps. The weird younger version said they were his only way out, and that there wasn't a guaranty that he would make it to the top. So what could possibly be strong enough to hold him back in his own head? As he walked up he noticed a large circular platform up ahead. Now he was on high alert. Was this the exit? If it is, then there was no way he got here so easily without incident from what younger him said. Something was going to happen.

A few moments later he reached the platform and his breath got caught in his throat. It wasn't just a circular platform, but a giant picture made of glass. He could feel the sadness well up inside of him as he looked at the art in front of him. It depicted his mother, Serena, gazing out across the lake, her lake, as she stood with a smiling younger him with the sun setting in the distance. In the middle of the platform an ornate blue door sat, waiting to be opened. Percy didn't know why but he felt like he should avoid that door at all cost, and yet he also felt that he needed to open it to see what was inside. The minute he took a step on the platform, his vision faded and he was assaulted with a memory.

**FLASHBACK:**

_A bloodcurdling roar echoed throughout the clearing and a massive black creature burst forth from behind the rabbit, streaking towards the group. Percy's vision tunneled and his body froze in shock. The stench of rotten flesh assaulted his nostrils, but he still didn't move. The massive beast's dull, unkempt, midnight fur rippled with power as its jagged claws tore at the earth. Its roaring maw was lined with razor sharp, needle like teeth and flames could be seen dancing in the beast's throat. Percy's gaze had locked onto the beasts, Percy's green met the beast's red, and he was petrified. He had trained for two whole years for this moment, but no amount of training could've prepared him for the real thing, no amount of preparation could prepare him for a Hellhound attack._

"_I'm so sorry son…but I can't leave. This is my lake I have to protect it at all costs, I can't go with you," she replied sadly, "But you have to leave. That vile man's scent has faded, and yours is strong enough that they will be here within the hour, and the safest place for you right now is with those three at that camp Lady Artemis was talking about."_

_Before Percy could reply Artemis hammered the final nail in the proverbial coffin._

"_Your scent would put your mother in more danger if you were here. It really is better off if you weren't here."_

_That comment hit Percy right in the core of his being. His very presence put his mother's life in danger. He couldn't protect his mom from the Hellhound, and now if he stayed he'd only continue to put his mom's life in peril from creatures he couldn't protect her from._

**FLASHBACK END:**

Percy's vision rushed back to him, disorientating him as he stumbled forward. He looked up in shock and sadness, vainly looking around for the cause of the flashback. Nothing had changed. The door still lay in the middle of the platform, impassive and waiting. The mysterious whisperings were still there, quiet and taunting. The darkness still surrounded him, all powerful and impenetrable. Percy looked up at the door again, and made a decision. He walked up to it slowly as he raised his hand. He placed his palm on the door and gently pushed it open. The door swung open and Percy was shocked once more when on the other side of the door the very lake depicted below them came into view.

He rushed through the door, not noticing it closing and disappearing behind him, taking in the view of his old home for the first time in forever. His happiness grew when he saw his mother standing on the top of the lake, a smile on her face as she beckons him over. He raced over to her and threw himself into her arms as the tears welled in his eyes again. She stumbled back a couple steps, but caught him and righted herself as he smiled and began talking.

"Mom! What the fuck are you….,"

He stopped himself when he saw the fierce glare she gave him. He was about to apologize, but the punch to the top of his head got to him first.

"The fuck did I tell you about cussing!?" she yelled at him while he tried to get over the shock of being hit on the top of his head.

"You just cussed and you try to lecture me about it!?" he yelled back.

"I'm your mother. I can talk anyway I want to! And I expect you to listen or when you get out of here I'll punch you for real!"

The talking stopped and glared at each other for a moment before they broke out in giggles. Something Serena said caught in Percy's head though as he slowly stifled his laughter.

"Wait, what do you mean for real? This is real isn't it?" he asked before a pained expression crossed his face as he turned to walk away, "Oh…well I should probably leave. Wouldn't want you to get hurt because I can't protect you."

Serena grabbed his arm before he could walk away, a sad smile on her face as she began to speak.

"No this isn't real, were still in your mind. I'm just a conglomeration of your memories of Serena. I'm here to tell you that you need to let it go."

Percy tried to block out what she was telling him, but no matter how hard he covered his ears and tried to drown it out, her voice reached him.

"It's ok. It wasn't your fault that you were putting me in danger. You never knew and I never told you until that day where you had to leave…."

"That's just it!" he yelled cutting Serena off, "If it wasn't for Artemis appearing, then you would've been killed by some monster and it would've been my fault! I put your life in danger! You would've been better off if you hadn't met me!"

A hard slap sounded through the clearing. Percy clutched his cheek as he stared at Serena in shock, anger clear across her face. She bent down, her face inches from his own, as she roared at him with rage in her voice.

"Perseus Ajax Jackson you listen and you listen well! You were by far one of the best things to ever happen to me! Don't you ever let me catch you saying something, Hades, thinking something like that again or I swear to the gods I will kick your ass to Olympus and back do you hear me!?"

**MEANWHILE IN THE THRONE ROOM:**

Everyone in the throne room stared in shock at the screens as they witnessed Serena, or at least Percy's memories of her, threaten her son with such a punishment. Hera, Hestia, and Artemis had their arms crossed and were nodding their heads in approval while Poseidon looked on in fear. Serena wouldn't really do that would she? He looked down and paled. A dark smile was stuck firmly on her face as a quiet malevolent chuckle escaped her lips.

Percy's memories may be done with him, but it looked like the real Serena wasn't. He was going to get it when he woke up.

**BACK IN PERCY'S HEAD:**

Percy nodded his head vigorously, never having seen his mom this furious the entire time he'd lived with her. He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those beatings. Serena calmed down when she saw Percy nod his head. She backed out of his face and began to speak again.

"Look, I get that you wanted to stay and protect me, but there are some things you can't control. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you fight because your fate can take turns you don't like, but the only thing you can do is adjust and live on. Eventually everything will work out. Besides, you may not be strong enough now, but aren't you supposed to become the strongest demigod in existence?"

Percy put his head down. He knew this. Deep down he knew this. He just hated the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. He always tried hard to protect those he cared about, but to know fate told him he couldn't at the time was like an ice cold slap of reality.

And also….

"You're…you're not…mad at me?" he whispered.

She cocked her head in confusion and asked,

"Why would you think I was mad at you?"

"Because I left. I thought….you'd hate me for leaving….you alone…"

"….You can be really stupid sometimes you know that?" she giggled as she pulled him into a warm embrace, "I never once hated you for leaving. You have a destiny that is beyond my little clearing, and I want you to go out and find it! I'll always be here for you, waiting with open arms. You're my son. I have nothing but love for you."

The world around them began to dissolve into whiteness, and Percy felt as if a weight had been released from the core of his being. He began to panic as Serena began to disappear as well, but the calm smile on her face told him everything was going to be ok. Before she was gone for good she spoke one last time.

"You know, you could still come visit me some times. A day or so wouldn't do any harm."

Percy smiled sheepishly and closed his eyes. Yeah he probably should've thought of that. When he opened his eyes again he was back on the glass platform. The door was gone and in its place was the sea blue medallion that he kept in his room at camp. He smiled fondly as he picked it up and put it on his neck where it glowed slightly before resting. Looking around he noticed another set of glowing white stairs leading up into the darkness. Figuring that he had to repeat the process if he wanted to wake up he began to ascend the stairs.

As he walked he absentmindedly rubbed the medallion around his neck. He kept it in his cabin because he didn't want to ruin it while on one of his often dangerous and life threatening tasks or quests. He began to notice that the whispering voices he heard before had grown louder, not enough to make out what they were saying, but louder none the less. It took a few minutes of walking but soon he saw another platform in the distance above him. He quickened his pace a bit in order to reach it quicker, taking the steps two at a time now. As he jogged he tried his best to mentally prepare himself for whatever he was about to see, knowing it was going to be something connected to a memory that he tried to keep hidden, something he tried to bury deep inside himself.

He was right.

He skid to a halt as he looked at the image before him. Tears began streaming down his face and he fought the urge to scream. There were very few things in the world that could make him react like this.

Sally Jackson, his mother, was one of those things.

It was a beautiful glass piece, showing her sitting on the beach in Montauk with a tiny, grinning, child. Scars covered his bare arms and chest and a lingering sadness could be seen in his eyes, but at the moment there was nothing but happiness in his gaze. A serene smile lay across his mother's face, and her eyes gazed at the young boy in love and happiness. Percy fell to his knees as the memory of that day rushed into his vision.

**FLASHBACK: **

_Gentle waves lapped against the sandy beach as two figures sat in the fading light of day, one wrapped in the others embrace. The little boy, Percy, sat in his mother's lap, his toes wriggling in the sand as she played with his hair and hummed a gentle tune. Percy looked up into his mother's face, taking in the fading scars and bruises for the thousandth time. He frowned slightly and was about to speak, but decided to keep quiet about it. He knew momma and him hardly ever got to go to the beach anymore. It was one of the few times when he and momma could just sit and be at peace. _

_They didn't have to worry about that big fat meanie yelling._

_Or throwing things…._

_Hitting him….._

_Hitting momma….._

_They could just sit and enjoy the salty ocean spray, without a care in the world. He knew it wouldn't last forever. In a few hours they'd have to go back to that crummy old place they called home. Back to that fatty who dared to call himself my papa. He looked out into the sea again as the sound of his mom's humming lulled him to sleep. He just wanted mamma to be ok. As long as she was smiling then it didn't matter what happened to him. He closed his eyes as sleep over took him._

"_Yeah, as long as mamma is happy, then I'm happy…."_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_A bloodcurdling scream jolted Percy out of his dreamless sleep. He looked around and realized he was back in his bed in his apartment. His door was closed, which was odd because he never closed his door. Percy sat up and slid out of his bed, his feet hitting the cold wood floor as he padded over to his bedroom door. He slid it open silently and walked down the hall into the living room where the scream came from. He was about to call out for his mom when he reached the living room and his words died in his throat. He could vaguely make out the shape of his stepfather standing in the room, but his focus was on the figure lying on the floor._

_The one with the beautiful auburn hair._

_The one with the knife sticking out of her chest._

_The one lying in a pool of her own blood._

_The one whose dying gaze sat firmly fixed on his._

_She mouthed out one word before death claimed her._

_Run…_

_So he did._

**FLASHBACK END:**

The memory rushed from his sight as Percy found himself back on the glass platform. He stood and rushed to the door.

If it was anything like the one before than behind this door….

He shoved the door open, and the tears began to fall even faster. On the other side of the door was the very beach from his memory and on that beach sat the one person he never thought he would see again. He unconsciously took a step forward, putting himself fully into that realm as the door shut behind him shut and disappeared. The woman turned and locked gazes with Percy. His knees buckled as she stood and began to walk towards him. For every step forward she took he took one back, but she still got closer with every step. He fell to his butt, his legs finally giving out on him, and pulled them up to his chest. He couldn't take it, the guilt, the sadness, the pain that seeing her again dredged up was too much for the young demigod. He clutched the sides of his head and closed his eyes as he tried to fight the coming storm of emotions, but it was all in vain.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I COULDN'T SAVE YOU! I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING! IF I HADN'T FALLEN ASLEAP I COULD'VE WARNED YOU! I…"

A pair of slender arms wrapped around him and gently pulled him into a tender embrace, and a gentle kiss on his forehead caused him to quiet as he opened his eyes. A gentle smile greeted him as he looked into the warm eyes of his long deceased mother. She wiped the tears from his eyes and hummed a tune, the same tune from all those years ago, as Percy calmed down from his hysterics. Once he'd calmed down she began to speak.

"It's ok Percy,"

"No it's not! I let him kill you!"

"You couldn't have known you couldn't have stopped him."

"I could've tried! I could've stopped him!"

"Percy you were eight. You wouldn't have been able to stop a full grown man."

"I'm a demigod!"

"But did you know that then?"

That question struck him silent. He didn't, and there was no way he could've known, but that didn't stop the sadness and guilt he felt whenever he looked at her, and whenever she crossed his mind.

"You can't keep holding your sadness inside you like this. It's been eating you alive and if you don't let it go, then you might not wake up."

"How am I supposed to let it go!?" he yelled, truly at a loss for how.

He'd carried it around with him for so long that it had become a part of who he was. He'd gotten so used to the feeling that he forgot that it was even there. He never told anyone about it. Hades, he never told anyone about a lot of the pain he felt. The latest being Thalia's "death" at his hands. It wasn't the first, but it was the tipping point. He knew he should tell people about it, but every time he thought about it he stopped himself. They had enough crap to deal with. He wasn't going to go lumping his problems on top of theirs.

"You need to tell someone Percy," she said in her motherly tone, "Holding it in isn't healthy, it's what got you here in the first place."

"I don't want to burden anyone else with my problems…." Percy replied.

"You're not going to burden anyone with your problems. If they're your friends then they'll want to help you just like you have helped them too. Friendship is a two way street. Don't take away their chance to pay you back and let them help you."

Percy looked down at the ground at his feet. She was right. He just….he didn't know how to ask for help in this kind of situation. The world around him began to fade like the last one. Sally smiled and wrapped her arms around her son as she began to disappear with the land around them.

"Remember son, I'm always here inside you, and you've made me so proud. I love you. Now, get out of here and do me proud!"

When he looked up the beach was gone and he was back where he was before. The younger him he saw at the beginning of the journey was standing in front of him, a grim smile on his face and white fingerless gloves with sea green entrails on them in his outstretched hand.

"I hate you," growled Percy as he snatched the gloves from his younger self.

"You shouldn't hate yourself," the younger him responded.

"Sometimes I can't help myself, asshat," he muttered in return as he ascended the stairs in front of him, the gloves now on his hands.

"I know," the younger him whispered as he disappeared into another swirling white vortex, "And that might just be our downfall."

Percy stomped up the stairs in front of him angrily. He just wanted to wake up and forget about this ever happening. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next, and this was only worsening his mood. He never noticed that the whispering had gotten even louder, and that he could make out what was being said now. No, he was too focused on getting the Hades, out of there. He soon reached another circular platform, though this one was twice as large as the ones before.

It was him reclining on right edge of it with a mural of the sea behind him. In smaller circles along the left side of the glass were portraits of all of the people he cared about. Thalia, both his moms, Hestia, Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite, Annabeth, and Chiron, all of them were there in their own little circle portraits. He barely even glanced at the beautiful work though. His gaze was firmly fixed on the figure in front of him, standing in place of the door that was on the previous ones. Percy let out a dark chuckle as he locked eyes with the younger him who wore a sad smile on his face.

"I should've seen this coming," he said as he stepped onto the platform. No memory assaulted him this time.

The stairs behind him fell away into the darkness surrounding them. The younger him began to grow as his clothes slowly turned black as darkness spread across his skin, consuming him until he looked like a living shadow, glowing yellow eyes boring into him. The two stared each other down. Percy knew exactly what he was looking at. All the hatred, all the sadness, and self loathing he ever felt had combined into the figure in front of him. Just like the darkness just consumed his childhood, it would consume him if he didn't do something about it. He had to win. He was about to go up against his biggest enemy in life, himself.

There was no warning, no signal. The two launched at each other, their fist colliding together causing a shockwave to erupt out from the impact. Percy and his dark counterpart leapt apart, their feet barely touching the ground before they flew at each other again. The Percy threw blow after blow, furious kicks and lightning fast jabs, but each was either parried or dodged by Anti-Percy. Anti-Percy grew tired of defending and faster than Percy could react threw a devastating uppercut aimed at Percy's stomach. The punch connected with so much force it knocked the wind out of Percy and lifted him in the air. Before he touched down, Percy received another haymaker punch to the chest. He could feel his ribs crack at the blow as he was sent flying backwards. He landed on his back and skid to a halt just before he went over the edge of the platform. He coughed violently, blood spattering the glass, as he pushed himself up into his fighting stance once again.

Anti-Percy charged forward, Hades bent on ending Percy's existence. Percy waited until his dark counterpart was just in front of him before he acted. Like a flowing river, he ducked and swirled around his charging enemy, sending a heavy kick to his back as spun, launching Anti-Percy off the edge of the platform. Percy watched as the dark being fell until it disappeared and then looked around. It was too easy. He knew it wasn't the end. His suspicion was confirmed when he felt a rumbling laughter fill the air. He looked around, trying to find the source of the demonic laughter. A shadow began to grow behind Percy, and when he turned to see what was casting it equal parts fear and fury exploded inside him.

Anti-Percy had taken the form of the one being he hated more than anyone else on the entire planet. The large shadow form of Gabe Ugliano loomed over the platform, shadowy tentacles waving behind him as he gripped the murals edge. Percy charged forward, a guttural roar splitting the air as he did. He was so caught up in trying to hurt the being in front of him that he never saw the crushing tentacle coming. It smashed into him from above, pancaking him into the mural with such force it cracked the glass. Percy's whole body was racked with pain as he lay on the ground. As he tried to stand another tentacle came and struck him back into the floor. More and more blows rained down as his demon beat him into the dirt.

Percy was slowly giving up, numbness creeping up his body as his consciousness began to fade. The sound began to fade as his eyes closed. He couldn't win, so he might as well accept death. Just when he thought it was over, the whispers he'd forgotten about began to sound in his head. They started out quiet, but quickly gained volume until they were screaming at him.

"Don't you dare give up Percy! You are stronger than this!"

Mom?

"Fight son! Show that thing what a son of Poseidon can do!"

Dad?

"You better get up Percy! Don't lose hope!"

Hestia

"Get up Percy! You can't die! We need you! I need you!"

Thalia!

As the pleas of the people he cared about filtered into his ears he could feel his strength returning. They were right! He was stronger than this! He'd been so lost in his despair that he hadn't been himself. Well no more. He was Percy Ajax mother fucking Jackson and it was about time he started acting like it again. He had people waiting for him to return, and he refused to disappoint them. He grit his teeth and placed his palms flat on the ground and began to push up. He fought the force of the blows, continuing to rise even as they willed him to fall. The gloves on his hands glowed a brilliant white that engulfed his whole lower arm before it faded, leaving in place of his gloves a pair of deadly sea blue tinted silver heavy gauntlets. He stood to his full height and stared defiantly at the being of darkness in front of him.

It lashed a tentacle out at him, the appendage blurring as it sped through the air. Percy raised his hand and blocked the attack with little effort. He cocked his right arm back as he crouched low. The dark being lashed out once more at where Percy stood ready, but hit nothing but air. Percy darted forward and threw his fist forward, putting all his strength into the strike. When the punch connected at first it seemed as if it did nothing, but a moment later the enemy in front of him exploded into a mass of dark energy leaving the younger him standing at the edge of the platform with a dazed look in his eyes.

He smiled as realization dawned in his eyes and he started to fade. Like the others before him he gave one last word before he was gone.

"You did well me! Sorry about that, but that's what happens when you let your darkness fester inside you. You've defeated it this time, but it not gone forever. It's always there, you just have to learn to deal with it the right way! Good luck, and until next time!"

As he faded out a door took his place. A pure white door that had the words exit glowing above it. He smiled at the sight. Only he would have something as simple as that for an exit from his mind. He inhaled deeply and let it out as a long stress relieving sigh. He let a devilish grin spread across his face as he strode forward and pushed the door open. He had some people to see.

.

.

.

.

.

Percy's eyes snapped open and he quickly took in his surroundings. He was back in the outfit he was in before, the one during the Ares task, but the new gloves, which were now black, and the medallion were still there. He was floating in a sphere of water in the middle of the throne room with all eyes on him. Well, might as well go meet the crowd. He saw Thalia looking at him with a giant grin on her face, her eyes red from watching the events unfold. He swam over and held his hand out. Just like last time, she reached in and pulled him out. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was assaulted in a group hug that consisted of the god of the sea, a naiad, a demigod, the hearth goddess, the god of music, and the god of love.

It was hard to distinguish between their mingled voices having just woken up from one of the oddest experiences he'd ever had. Finally after a few minutes the crowd dispersed and the chatter stopped.

"Well now that you're ok it's only right that we tell you," began Zeus, "We saw everything that happened Percy, from the beginning to the end."

Percy stiffened for a moment before he relaxed and his easy going smile returned.

"No worries Zeus, it saves me the time of explaining it to you all."

Everyone just sighed at Percy's nonchalant response. It seemed some things never changed.

"Well if that's all then why don't you head home," said Zeus, "You seem like you need a rest after all that's happened."

Percy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he responded,

"Yeah, even though I've been asleep this entire time I feel like I could sleep for a week. How long was I out anyways?"

"A week," said Thalia.

"Damn, that's kinda long!" exclaimed Percy.

"Alright then, if that is all then meeting adjourned."

Most of the gods flashed out leaving Percy, Thalia, Serena, and Poseidon in the throne room. Serena turned and smiled sweetly at Percy, and then she punched him on the top of the head. Before he could cry out in pain she yanked him towards her by the collar of his shirt and whispered dangerously,

"If you ever tell me some shit like that again, I'll rip you a new one you got that?"

Just like before Percy nodded vigorously not interested in getting the shit beat out of him by his mother. There was an awkward silence in the air as the group tried to find out what to say. Percy broke the tension by speaking first on what he knew to be the elephant in the room.

"Look guys…," he began as he looked down, hand on the back of his head, "Sorry for not….you know….telling you guys about all of that stuff, and some other stuff."

Serena and Poseidon smiled widely,

"It's alright son, we understand," began Serena, "But you can speak to us about stuff like that. You won't be burdening anyone so feel free to talk to any of us."

"Yes son," said Poseidon, "You know you can always call on me and I will listen. Well it's about time you got back to camp. I'll flash you there."

"Alright, by mom. I'll try to come and visit sometime soon. Ok?" spoke Percy.

"Please do, it gets lonely talking to fish all the time," she said before she turned and leapt into the sphere of water and disappeared.

Since it contained the water of her lake, and she could appear anywhere inside her lake, she simply used it to get back home. It's how she came to visit every day.

Poseidon gave the two demigods a parting smile before they disappeared in a brilliant sea blue flash. When the two reappeared, it was the middle of night in camp. They appeared by the lake, the full moon shining down on them and the stars gleaming in the night. Percy turned to Thalia, who'd been strangely silent during the last part of the meeting on Olympus, to wish her good night when he saw the look on her face. He knew it wasn't over between them.

"Percy, what happened on our first quest?"

He flinched. He should've known this question was coming sooner or later. He opened his mouth to try and spin her some excuse as to why he couldn't tell her, but the look on her face promised pain if he tried to lie to her. Letting out a sigh he did what he knew he should've done from the beginning. He told her everything.

Her disappearance.

His searching.

His finding her possessed.

His conversation with the eidolon.

Him holding her down under the waves.

Watching the life fade from her eyes.

Reviving her.

By the end of the explanation tears were streaming down both of their faces. Thalia was crying because she'd finally found out what Percy was carrying around inside him, and it was horrible. He had to kill her in order to save her. She couldn't fathom how hard that was to do for him, and then to carry it alone. Percy was crying because not only was he remembering the event, but he was sure that Thalia wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore. He killed her! He was sure that he would be down a friend in a few moments. Imagine his surprise when she pulled him into a hug and apologized to him.

"What?" was his brilliant reply.

"I'm sorry you had to do that, and then carry around the guilt of that by yourself. No one should eve have to do that."

"You mean….you don't hate me for doing it?"

"Why would I hate you?! You saved my life. Had you not done what you did who knows where I'd be right now."

"Oh gods I was so sure that you'd hate me for this."

"No you idiot, just don't bottle everything up anymore. I expect to be the first to know when something troubling you from now on! Got it Kelpy?"

He smiled widely,

"Of course Sparky. Well, it's late so I'm gonna go get some sleep. Night."

He turned to walk away, but was stopped by the voice of his friend,

"Hey Percy?"

He turned to see what Thalia wanted. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and his eyes widened in shock as he was yanked forward and she crashed her lips into his, letting go of his collar in favor of wrapping her arms around his neck. His whole body froze before he melted into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer to him. It only lasted for a few moments, but to them it was a lifetime. When she released herself from the kiss, she couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she looked at the dazed expression in Percy's eyes.

"Goodnight Percy," she said before she turned around and walked away towards her cabin.

Percy just nodded silently, still in shock at what just happened, and turned and walked back to his cabin. Ten minutes later he was in his cabin passed out on his bunk. Had he been in the right state of mind he would've noticed the figure hiding in the shadows of his cabin, and the mysterious purple potion he held in his hands, but he was so dazed that he didn't even know he was there. While he slept the figure walked towards him and sprayed the mysterious liquid over him, and slunk out the cabin into the night. Percy stirred in his sleep, oblivious to the world as he began to glow a light purple. Suddenly the glow pulsed a dark purple illuminating the entire cabin briefly before it was plunged back into darkness.

The figure paused as he stood at the crest of Half-blood hill, looking back over the camp with a sneer on his face. He offered his parting words before he descended the hill.

"Goodbye Camp Half-Blood. By the time you wake up tomorrow, you'll be down one child of Poseidon. I hope you can cope."

**That's a wrap folks! Percy has awoken and is better than ever! He and Thalia shared a kiss in the moonlight! Everything should be alright now right? Wrong! Who was that mysterious figure? And what did he do to Percy? Send me your answers as to what you think the purple potion did to our favorite son of Poseidon, but to really know what it did you'll have to come back next time for the next installment of Hydromancer! And don't forget to check out my Teen Titans fic, The Beast Inside!**

**P.S. I put in a little nod to one of my favorite games ever! If you can figure it out, well then that just makes you awesome! Send me your answers!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging out!**


	15. Potion Commotion

**Hello comrades! I have returned with the latest installment of Hydromancer! Last time we left of Percy had finally awoken after gaining a new weapon and a fight with the darkness inside him! But the ending wasn't all french-fries and ice cream! Percy has been sprayed with a mysterious substance by a cloaked figure! What did the purple potion do, and who is the mysterious figure!? Read on to find out!**

**Previously on Hydromancer:**

_Ten minutes later he was in his cabin passed out on his bunk. Had he been in the right state of mind he would've noticed the figure hiding in the shadows of his cabin, and the mysterious purple potion he held in his hands, but he was so dazed that he didn't even know he was there. While he slept the figure walked towards him and sprayed the mysterious liquid over him, and slunk out the cabin into the night. Percy stirred in his sleep, oblivious to the world as he began to glow a light purple. Suddenly the glow pulsed a dark purple illuminating the entire cabin briefly before it was plunged back into darkness. _

_The figure paused as he stood at the crest of Half-blood hill, looking back over the camp with a sneer on his face. He offered his parting words before he descended the hill._

"_Goodbye Camp Half-Blood. By the time you wake up tomorrow, you'll be down one child of Poseidon. I hope you can cope."_

**NOW (Undisclosed house in undisclosed location):**

Glass vials of glowing liquid flew across the room and smashed into the wall, shattering into millions of pieces, spewing their contents like rain from the sky. A young demigod cowered on the ground as a cloaked figure took out its rage on the potions.

"Y-you should b-be careful throwing t-those v-v-vials around…" said the demigod in a timid voice, "Y-you might m-mix the w-wrong ones a-and…."

The cloaked figure whirled around and stomped over to the young boy. Grabbing a fist full of the front of his shirt, the young demigod was lifted effortlessly into a standing position. The cloaks hood fell off revealing long golden locks and a furious storm grey colored scowl.

"You should be more worried about what I do to YOU!" Annabeth roared out as she shook the frightened boy, "I had you prepare Percy's potion right!?"

"Oh, right. The potion. The potion for Percy, the potion chosen especially to kill Percy, Percy's potion. That potion?" he rushed out in a nervous reply.

"Yes that potion!"

"I-I d-do remember c-crafting such a-a p-potion."

"You told me he would be dead if we used that potion! That dark purple potion we had you make specifically for Percy's death! But now, after it's been used, we find out Percy won't die!"

"I-I told you both it w-was the light p-p-purple potion," he whispered out in fear.

"No, you told us the opposite!" she screeched, slamming the poor boy into the ground, "What does the dark purple one even do!?"

"I-I don't k-know. I d-didn't g-get a chance to t-test it out…."

Annabeth raised her hand to strike the downed boy, but her arm was grasped by a larger hand as a voice reached her ears.

"Now now Annabeth. We need him functional. He is one of the few who knows how to make these after all, being a son of Hecate," said Luke as he entered the room.

"But now we don't even know what we did to Percy! We could've enhanced his powers for all we know!" she growled back at him.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Luke rebutted, as a sinister grin grew across his face, "Most likely he's been cursed or something, plus it doesn't matter. When the time comes even with his help they will be no match for our master. Though I would love to see what the idiot is doing right about now."

**CAMP HALF BLOOD (SAME DAY):**

A pounding on her door awoke Thalia from her slumber. She rolled out of bed, clad in a large t-shirt, shorts, and knee high socks, and stumbled over to the cabin's entrance. She flung the door open, sunlight penetrating the door blocked by Chiron. Thalia looked at him in sleep infused confusion.

"Chiron? What's up? You do realize it's only…" she paused to look over at clock on her wall, "Twelve thirty right?"

"I am sorry for interrupting your sleep, I originally went to get Annabeth so you could sleep in, but she's missing along with Luke. However we have another problem," he replied.

"Do you know where they could've gone?" she asked as she slowly woke up and processed the fact that her two former friends were missing, "And what else could possibly be wrong?"

"I'm not sure, we have a team looking to see if we can find them as we speak, and as far as the what else….it's Percy," he answered.

That woke her up.

"What about him!? He's not hurt is he!? He almost died yesterday! Can't we have a few days where nothing bad happens!?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, when I went to get him from his cabin to inform him of his friends disappearance, he screamed loudly and then refused to open the door. I'm afraid something is wrong with him. He sounded a little….off. He won't open the door for anyone. A group of campers is outside his door right now, but he said the only one he'll let in is you."

Thalia was afraid. What could possibly scare Percy enough that he'd refuse to come out of his cabin? Normally, he was the kind of guy who just went with the flow of things. Nothing really bothered him when it came to himself.

"Alright let's go," she said after a moment of thinking.

She grabbed a jacket, slid on her boots, and then walked out the door towards Poseidon's cabin, Chiron at her heals. When she arrived, she saw Chiron wasn't kidding when he said a group of campers had gathered outside the cabin. Clarisse, the Stoll brothers, and a bunch of other assorted campers were standing around the door. Currently Clarisse was banging on the door trying to convince Percy to open up.

"C'mon Prissy!" she yelled, "Get your lazy ass out of bed! There is nothing wrong with you!"

"GO AWAY!"

'Is that….Percy? Wow he does sound weird.'

Clarisse growled lowly and was about to begin pounding on the door again when Thalia stopped her.

"Hold on Clarisse," she said to the daughter of the war god, "Let me see if I can get him out."

Thalia walked over to the door and knocked before she spoke,

"Percy open up!"

"Thalia?" he asked in reply.

"Yeah it's me open the do…."

The door whipped open, and before anyone could seed inside Thalia was grabbed and pulled inside, the door slamming shut behind her. The blinds were closed and the lamps were turned off so the cabin was pitch black. Thalia had tumbled and fallen on top of Percy after he yanked her inside.

"Damn it Percy what's your problem?" she asked as she put her hand onto a pile of clothes pushed herself up, not hearing the soft whimpering coming from below her, "What are you doing sitting in complete darkness? And why won't you come out?"

She rose up and reached out to her left. If she was right there should be a light switch right….around….here. She flicked the light on.

"There now what the hell….is….your….ummm….who are you?"

Below her was a girl her age, blushing up a storm. She had a nice toned figure with around c-cup breast, which one of her hands was firmly grasping. Her long raven black hair was splayed out on the ground below her, and emerald green eyes were staring back up at Thalia in shock. Thalia started to get angry. Didn't she and Percy share a kiss last night, and not even the next afternoon he has some chick in here with….wait. Isn't that….the outfit Percy wore...on their task?

The girl below her nervously chuckled, poking her index fingers together in nervousness.

"Uhhhh…..hey Thalia. Can you…stop squeezing so hard please?"

Thalia just stared impassively into the girls, now identified as Percy, eyes. After a few moments a small smile began to force its way out of her lips. Soon a soft chuckling followed before it turned into full blown laughter. Thalia fell to the floor besides the girl, rolling around in laughter. Percy whole face turned red in embarrassment.

"It's not funny!" he yelled which caused Thalia to laugh even harder, "Thalia!"

Percy puffed her cheeks out and tried to glare at her laughing friend, but the look was anything but menacing and it only caused Thalia to laugh even harder. Tears began to fall from Percy's eyes as she began to cry. Thalia's laughter began to cease as Percy's cries reached her ears. She felt a pang of guilt strike her heart. She didn't mean to make him, she meant her, gods this was confusing, cry. She rolled over and pulled the crying Percy into a hug, resting her chin on the top of her head. That seemed to do the trick as Percy slowly stopped crying. When the crying had fallen to sniffles Thalia began to speak.

"I'm sorry for laughing Percy. That was uncalled for, but why are you crying? This isn't that big a deal."

"Not that big a deal! I'm a girl!" he cried, "I don't know how to be a girl! Everything I got used to as a boy is now irrelevant!"

"Being a girl isn't that bad! I woke up with these things on my chest!" she wailed pointing to her chest, "I've gotten so emotional that I don't know what to do with myself, it's weird to walk now, my hips are huge, and worst of all…..it's gone!"

Thalia was trying really hard not laugh at Percy.

"Oh gods what if I start liking boys! I swear if I start thinking the Stoll's are cute I'm gonna drown myself!"

"You're a son…er…daughter of Poseidon. It's impossible for you to drown," Thalia deadpanned, but it was obvious Percy wasn't listening.

"Oh no, what if you don't like me now 'cause I'm a girl!"

Thalia sighed in annoyance. Percy was making this out to be worse than it really was. She needed to calm her down because in her hysterical state Percy wouldn't listen to anything. She thought about how she should calm her ailing friend down and came up with the easiest solution. Thalia leaned back, tilted Percy's head up to look at her, and then leaned in and planted a kiss on the stunned demigod's lips. Percy shivered as he face lit up like a Christmas tree, and then leaned into the kiss. After a few moments Thalia freed her lips from Percy with a satisfied smirk on her face, while Percy's bore a dazed look.

"Ok now that I have your attention let me point out a few things. One it's obvious from your reaction you still like me and not boys. You can see I still like you because I kissed you. You know there are girls that like boys and girls, idiot. I happen to be one of them. Now, you're really making this out to be worse than it actually is. All that stuff you were griping about you will get used to, I'll help you. Now you need to come with me to Chiron so we can find out how this happened and if we can reverse it ok? Who knows, you might not be a girl for too long."

Percy nodded slowly before the two sat up. Thalia stood and walked over to Percy's closet and after a moment of staring picked out a pair of black sweats and a blue t-shirt.

"Here, go shower then put these on," Thalia said, tossing the clothes to a still sitting Percy, "Can't have you walking around in the dirty, ripped clothes you've had on for days now."

Percy nodded and grabbed the clothes, then stood and walked over to the bathroom door. She paused just as she was about to open the door, and a giant blush spread across her face. Thalia saw this and raised her eyebrow in question.

"Why are you blushing now?" she asked and then the reality of what she asked Percy to do dawned on her, "Oh you pervert."

"Shut up!" she yelled in embarrassment, "It's not like I have another choice!"

"Haha whatever," Thalia snickered in reply, "I'm gonna go explain what's happened to everyone. Don't take too long ogling yourself!"

Thalia had to dodge the various thrown objects as she dashed out of the cabin into the crowd of confused campers outside. Chiron was the first to speak.

"Everything ok in there? We heard laughing…"

"Then crying…." added Connor.

"And then laughing again…." finished Travis.

"Yeah everything will be ok. He's not in any danger, just going through a little…ehhh….thing," Thalia explained trying not to laugh.

"What do you mean thing? Is Prissy ok or not!?" questioned Clarisse.

"Oh he's ok, and it would be better if you saw it for yourself when…uhh…HE comes out. Chiron, you might want to go get Mr. D to call Poseidon. Apollo too, the god of medicine might now how to reverse what happened."

Chiron looked at the daughter of Zeus in curiosity before trotting off to speak to the resident god and summon the Olympians in question. Meanwhile, the campers sat outside Percy's cabin chatted in curiosity at what could have happened to Percy while Thalia tried to keep her laughter in. A few minutes later and Chiron returned as the gods began to flash in, but it wasn't just Poseidon and Apollo as Hestia, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Serena appeared as well.

"Uhh, I know Poseidon and Apollo were coming, but what are the rest of you doing here?" asked Thalia.

"Well I couldn't not come after hearing something had happened to Percy now could I Thalia?" said Hestia with a smile.

"What, I can't see what my favorite little demigod couple is doing?" asked Aphrodite in a pout that made most of the campers blush.

"I was told by Poseidon to fetch Serena and bring her here. I'm simply sticking around to see what kind of trouble this boy has gotten himself into this time, and to deliver a message," explained Artemis.

"Might not be able to call him boy anymore…" Thalia muttered under her breath, "Well it's a little…."

"What happened to my son, daughter of Zeus?" Poseidon asked with a little force in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm curious as to why you needed someone as awesome as me!" cheered Apollo much to the ire of Artemis.

"It's best if you see for yourself when he comes out," she answered.

Moments later the door cracked open making Thalia jump a bit as Percy whispered to her,

"Uhhh….Thalia can…you tell all these people to leave?"

"Percy they're gonna find out sooner or later. Might as well be sooner. Besides, you look cute," she whispered back.

"I'm not cute," he muttered in a pout, "I'm manly."

"Not anymore you're not," Thalia chuckled, "Now get out here your mom and dad are here."

"What!? I think I'll just go back inside and hide forever"

"Percy if you don't come out right now, I'll come in there and make you."

Percy sighed heavily and relented. The door swung open and out stepped Percy as she hid behind Thalia. Everyone was confused. Where was Percy? Serena walked forward towards the two and Thalia moved to the side to allow her to see. Serena locked eyes with Percy as she was internally debating something.

"Excuse me girl," asked Poseidon, having not figured it out yet, "But what are you doing in my son's cabin?"

Serena couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of her chest as she pulled Percy into a hug. Everyone but Thalia looked at her in confusion, at least until she spoke.

"You know I've always wanted a daughter," she said between laughter.

"Mom! It's not funny!" she yelled back, as it began to click in the rest of their minds.

Half of the campers passed out in shock as animated chatter began to filter through the demigods. The gods were all staring at Percy in shock as well, taking in his new look.

"Percy?" asked Poseidon, "Is that you?"

Percy, already red from embarrassment, replied as she looked down,

"Yeah it's me dad."

Apollo couldn't take it anymore as the completely shocked look on Poseidon's face pushed him over the top and he fell over in hysterical laughter. Hestia had an amused look on her face as she smiled at Percy, and Aphrodite had the biggest grin on her face, as if she just found out something amazing. The glint in her eyes as she looked at him and Thalia made them both shiver. Artemis' calm face remained, but her raised eyebrows gave away her shock.

"Wow, I can't believe that's Percy," Travis said to his brother.

"Yeah," Connor replied, "the girl him is kinda hot."

Percy heard this comment and immediately shot her head over to the brothers. If looks could kill, the glare on his face would've melted the two into puddles of flesh. She hissed for good measure, causing the two to jump and run to safety. Artemis smirked at the interaction.

"It seems I could like this version of you Percy," the goddess of the hunt said as she approached and clasped a hand on his shoulder, "Now why don't we get my idiotic brother of the ground, and go to Olympus."

"Why would we need to do that?" asked Thalia as she grabbed Percy's hand in a protective manner.

"While that idiot," she says pointing at the still laughing Apollo, "Tries to figure out how this happened, there is someone who has a task for you two."

**Aaaand that's a wrap comrades! Percy's been turned into…a girl!? Seriously not what many of you were expecting, but hey my imagination isn't as straight forward as most. How will he deal with this gender swap? Is it permanent? What is this task that he and Thalia have been summoned for and who is it from? You'll just have to come back next time for the next installment of Hydromancer! And don't forget to check out my Teen Titans fic, The Beast Inside!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging out!**


	16. Important Notice! Please Read!

**OK, so I've received several review that want me to leave Percy as a girl, and also several that want me to change him back. Originally, I was going to switch him back after a couple of chapters, but since so many of you want him to stay a girl I'll let you decide. Should Percy stay a girl, or do I change him back after a few chapters? **

**There should be a poll on my profile so you can vote for your choice. If not, then just pm me your choice and your vote will be added. **

**Till next chapter comrades!**


	17. Percy Joins The Hunt

**Hello comrades! I have returned with the latest installment of Hydromancer! Percy's a girl!? The mysterious purple potion has turned our favorite hero into a girl, and to top it all off he doesn't even know how long it will last! Also, Percy and Thalia have been summoned to the throne room of Olympus for another task from the most unlikely god! Want to know who? Read on to find out!**

**Also considering the poll I created regarding Percy's gender status. I thought I'd maybe get a few replies. I did not expect the massive outpouring that I received and want to thank all who read my story and voted. You guys rock! The results so far are as follows:**

**Percy stays a girl: 38**

**Percy goes back to being a boy: 41**

**As you can see it is pretty even so I'm going to leave the poll open just a bit longer, but a few reviewers have planted an idea in my head that I'm also debating. I'm not going to say what, just that you'll know it when you see it. Anyways, I know you don't read this to listen to me ramble on so let's get to the part you came here for. On with the story!**

**Previously on Hydromancer:**

"_It seems I could like this version of you Percy," the goddess of the hunt said as she approached and clasped a hand on his shoulder, "Now why don't we get my idiotic brother of the ground, and go to Olympus."_

"_Why would we need to do that?" asked Thalia as she grabbed Percy's hand in a protective manner._

"_While that idiot," she says pointing at the still laughing Apollo, "Tries to figure out how this happened, there is someone who has a task for you two."_

**Now Mount Olympus:**

Percy sighed as she and Thalia stood in the middle of the throne room. Before they arrived, he was silently hoping that the gods would be a little mature about his….situation, but once again fate bitch slapped that idea straight into the trash. Ares and Hermes joined in with the already hysterically laughing Apollo. Artemis, Hestia, and Serena were snapping photos of the red cheeked Percy. Artemis was full blown grinning at the uncomfortable demigod, while the rest were trying desperately to suppress their smirks, but failing miserably. Thalia saw the look on her boy…girlfriends face and knew she wasn't going to take this for much longer. Moments later Percy's patients ran to an end and he snapped.

"OK! I get it! Ha ha it's so gods damned hilarious! Now can we get on with why we're here, and can someone tell Apollo to find out how to fix me!?"

That snapped everyone back into attention as the gods looked at Percy and saw the uncomfortable look on his face. Artemis turned and after summoning her bow fired a few arrows at the laughing trio, scaring them back into line. Poseidon was the first to speak after everyone calmed down.

"Apollo, do you think you can find out how to reverse what happened to my son?"

"I don't know. The only things that could do this to him would be a god or some sort of magic. I don't think anyone has enough of a grudge against Percy to turn him into a girl so I can only assume it's a magic of some sort. The question I need to know before I do anything about it is what kind of magic was it?" the god of the sun and medicine explained.

Percy sighed and rubbed the back of her head in annoyance.

"So, how long will I be like this?"

"Uhhhh it kinda depends on how long it takes me to figure out what did this to you, and if this is even permanent to begin with. But if I had to guess I'd say anywhere from a week or two to about…..forever."

"Forever!" Percy yelled in shock, her voice raising a few octaves, "What do you mean forever!?"

"Well if I can't figure out what turned you into a girl, then I can't get you the proper counter and you just might be stuck that way if what did this to you is in fact permanent."

Percy fell to her knees as a depressing aura surrounded her as she whined,

"I didn't even want to be a girl this long! I don't want this to last forever! Change me baaaack!"

Thalia sighed and crouched down to console the ailing demigod. She couldn't help but think he was being a little melodramatic. Sure, it no doubt sucked, for him at least, that he got turned into a girl, but she's making it out like it's the end of the world.

"Percy calm down. I'll help you along the way until you get turned back. Besides, being a girl is not that bad," she said as she rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

"But you've been a girl your entire life! I was a boy until I woke up this morning! I don't know the first thing about being a girl, and if you think I'm going to start wearing dresses and…."

"Percy have you ever seen me in a dress?"

"Well…no but…"

"Percy, you can still be you. There are just a couple of technical things that we have to go over. Oh yeah and get used to getting hit on by guys."

Percy glared at Thalia as she rose and dusted her knees off.

"Any guy that hits on me is getting punched in the face."

Poseidon just sighed, as Serena and Artemis looked at Percy with large smiles on their faces.

"So I hear one of you has a task for me and Percy to complete," said Thalia to the gods, trying to steer the conversation in a new direction.

The gods looked around in confusion as well, all except Artemis who was staring intently at Hades. Finally he sighed and began to address the demigods, surprising the rest of his fellow Olympians.

"I am the one who has a task for you to complete," he said in a clear calm tone.

Suspicion immediately hopped onto the faces of Poseidon and Zeus. It was a well known fact that Hades absolutely detested Percy and Thalia. He'd been making the camp quests that they went on extra difficult in an effort to kill them off.

"Hades, if this is some attempt to harm my daughter…" began Zeus.

"Or my son…" interjected Poseidon.

"You will feel the wrath of the skies and the seas. Not to mention the wrath of all of their other allies on the council."

Aphrodite and Hestia nodded their heads in confirmation at Zeus' claim.

"I am not attempting to kill off your children. In fact, what your daughter said when your son was unconscious Poseidon convinced me that we should treat our children better. So I offer a task to you two. If you complete it then consider the bad blood between us resolved. It's not any more dangerous than your standard tasks."

Percy and Thalia glanced at each other, skeptical yet curious of what the offer could be. They turned back towards Hades and nodded their heads in confirmation gaining a rare smile out of the god of the underworld.

"My task is simple. I need you two to travel up to Westover hall in Bar Harbor, Main and retrieve my children, and before you two accuse me of being a hypocrite and breaking the oath," he said cutting Poseidon and Zeus off from exactly what they were about to do, "They were born before the oath. I hid them in the Lotus Casino to avoid your idiot father young demigoddess."

"Hey!" yelled Zeus in indignation, "I am the king of Olympus!"

"You're also my idiot little brother so can it!" yelled Hades back at Zeus, causing the throne room to snicker at the annoyed look Zeus now sported, "So what do you say demigods? Can I count on you to return my children to camp safely?"

Without hesitation Thalia and Percy agreed to the surprise of Hades.

"You can count on us," said Percy with a large grin on her face.

"Yeah, so when are we leaving?" asked Thalia with an excited tone.

"Well, Bar Harbor is quite a ways away so you should go and pack accordingly," said Athena.

"How are we going to get there?" asked Percy.

The throne room feel silent as the beings inside contemplated the question. A coy smile rose on the face of Artemis and she gave an answer.

"You can travel with me and my hunters."

Percy and the rest of the males present immediately paled at the thought.

"W-while I thank you for t-that…uh….generous offer I think me and Thalia could…"

"Oh but why not? We're heading in that direction anyways looking for monsters to hunt. Come on it'll be fun."

"I-I wouldn't want to impose…"

"Nonsense Percy," said Thalia with a smirk that equaled Artemis, "I'm sure Artemis and the hunters wouldn't mind us tagging along. We are girls after all."

"Exactly, I would love to have you come with us," snickered the goddess of the hunt.

Percy knew she was beaten and there was no point in arguing so she sighed and nodded her head in confirmation.

"Fine fine we'll go with you Artemis. Now can we leave to go pack for this trip? I want to write my will before I die."

"Oh stop being so dramatic son," said Serena, ruffling her son's hair, "Artemis is nice. She wouldn't let you get hurt too badly. So you need any dresses for your journey?"

Percy just glared at her mom as she laughed at the angry look on her daughters face. Percy turned to Apollo's grinning face and pleaded with him.

"Please tell me you'll find a cure soon?"

"Haha sorry kid, but like I said, since I don't know exactly what changed you it might take me a while."

Percy just sighed and grabbed onto Thalia's hand as Artemis stood and put a hand on their shoulders. Serena waved good bye to Percy as the trio flashed out to Camp Half-Blood. She turned and looked at Apollo as he stood to flash out from the throne room.

"Is it really going to take you long to figure out what changed Percy like you said?"

Apollo snickered and replied,

"Naw of course not. I am the god of medicine after all! It should only take me a day or so to figure out and then after that maybe a few more days to configure a cure."

"Then why did you tell him that it would take so long?" she asked.

"Because I like messing with people," replied the sun god as he high fived Hermes and flashed out of the throne room.

Serena just sighed and walked over to Poseidon so she could be transported back to her lake.

"Boys….I'll never fully understand them."

**Camp Half-Blood:**

When they got back to camp Artemis told them she would be waiting at Half-Blood Hill for them. Percy and Thalia separated and went to their cabins to prepare their travel bags. While Thalia had no problem reaching hers, by the time Percy reached her cabin she'd kicked fourteen boys in the face for hitting on her, namely the Stoll brothers. She sighed once she closed her cabin door and immediately began to pack. She packed about a weeks' worth of clothes, namely cargo pants and long sleeves since she still hadn't gotten anything that fit her properly. She looked at her dresser and picked up the two enchanted rings she'd used for all these years. Instead of their normal silver, they were now stained red and had cracks running through them. She put them on and then summoned the hunting knives, and was shocked at what she saw. The blades had snapped at the hilt, leaving the weapons useless.

She sighed. They had been through so many battles together and now they were broken. She returned them to their ring form and placed them back on her dresser. She looked to the left of them and picked up the medallion necklace she got from her weird dream experience. She held it in her right hand and stared at it questioningly. Percy turned and walked over to the wall above her bed where the original one hung. She kept that one there because she didn't want to wear it and accidentally loose it in a battle or something, but for some reason she felt like she needed to take it with her. She grabbed it and held them both up to examine both of them. From what she could see they looked exactly the same. She shrugged. She figured she'd give it to Thalia since she didn't need two and as payment for helping her get through this.

Making sure she had everything she needed in her bag, she tightened her gloves and put on the original medallion on, jumping slightly when it glowed slightly then dimmed to its original color. She waited to see if the glow did anything immediate, but after remaining still for a few moments and having nothing happen she decided she would figure it out later. She grabbed the other medallion and put it in her pocket and then headed out the door. She turned to close the door, and when she turned around she immediately face palmed.

"All of you have five seconds to leave before I drown the lot of you," Percy said into her hand as she slowly shook her head.

The group of campers scattered at the threat and Percy began her trek to Half-Blood Hill, muttering about campers invading her privacy and hurting people, scaring all that ventured to near her. Percy reached her destination and saw that Thalia had already made it and was talking with the goddess of the hunt. They halted in their conversation when Percy arrived.

"Bout time you made it Kelpy," said Thalia, "You kept us waiting."

"I do wonder what took you so long," said Artemis.

"Stupid campers and their stupid faces being stupid and not leaving me alone," muttered Percy, causing Thalia to snicker at her misfortune while Artemis grinned lightly, "Shut up Sparky."

Percy reached into her pocket and pulled out the extra medallion and put it on over Thalia's head. She looked at Percy with a questioning gaze and then at the medallion in shock as it glowed slightly and then turned sky blue.

"What are the medallions for?" asked Artemis, asking the question that was in Thalia's head.

"I honestly don't know what they do. Mine did the same thing when I put it on," explained Percy as she pointed to hers, "We can worry about that later though, let's just get going."

Artemis looked at Thalia who just shrugged her shoulders. The goddess put her hand on the two demigod's shoulders and in an instant they were standing in the middle of the hunter's camp. The hunter's leapt up into battle ready stances, but seeing that it was their goddess they relaxed slightly, still wary about the presence of the two demigoddesses next to her. Percy recognized one of the hunters as she ran up and bowed to Artemis before speaking to the goddess.

"Milady thou hath returned. All is well I presume? Who art these two?" asked Zoe Nightshade, the second in command of the hunters.

"At ease Zoe, everything is fine. We're staying on course and are going to be heading up to Main like planned. These two are going to be traveling with us. You remember Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus," Artemis explained to her hunters motioning to the girl mentioned, "And this one is…."

"Ravyn! Ravyn Roth daughter of Poseidon! Nice to meet you!" Percy jumped in cutting off Artemis as she shot him an amused glance.

Zoe looked at Percy with a suspicious look in her eye. She approached her and examined the nervous demigod.

"I was not aware that Poseidon had a daughter," stated Zoe, "Thou look….familiar. Have we met thine before?"

"Nope! Not at all!" said Percy in a panicky voice.

Zoe looked at Percy suspiciously for a few more moments before the look dropped from her face and was replaced with a friendly smile.

"Well then, it is nice to meet thou even if thou art a bit…eccentric. Come let me show thou around camp. We shall depart tomorrow."

Percy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and sighed in relief much to Thalia and Artemis' amusement. The two demigoddesses followed the lieutenant of the hunt around as she showed them around the camp. A few other hunters joined in on the introduction, wanting to meet the two girls. First they were shown the tent they would be sharing so they could put down the bags they brought with them. Percy and Thalia's blush brought smirks their way from the hunters.

"What's the matter?" asked one of the other hunters, Phoebe, "Not used to sleeping with someone else?"

"Or is it something else?" asked another, Naomi.

"Oh stop teasing them," said Zoe, coming to the two's rescue, or so they thought, "It is none of thine business if their sexual affiliation or relationship."

That statement only made the two blush even harder and walk away, gaining laughs from the Phoebe and Naomi. Zoe, who was genuinely trying to be helpful, did not understand what was so funny. Next they were shown the dining area where they were told they would have lunch soon. After that they were shown where the hunters kept the wolves much to the excitement of Percy.

Ever since he began living with Serena, he'd found he had an uncanny affiliation with animals. When he used to go exploring in the wood near the clearing he was used to having a variety of animals join him in his journey. Right now the wolves were on break, eating lunch and doing wolf stuff, as Zoe was explaining how the wolves were used to guard the camp and that they could be very hostile to new people, when one of the wolves began walking in their direction. Zoe, Thalia, and the hunters stiffened as it grew closer.

"Oh crap that's Fang. He's the leaders of the pack, and he can be very hostile. Even we hunters steer clear of him," muttered Naomi as the giant white wolf padded closer.

At this distance they could see the muscle rippling underneath all his fur, and the feral gleam in his eyes. The rest of the hunters in the area stopped and gasped as they watched the scene unfold. Percy looked around at everyone and shrugged her shoulders. She walked forward to meet the wolf. Everyone else was panicking, and Thalia and Zoe were whispering for Percy to come back. Percy grinned at them and then turned to the wolf that was now in front of her.

Percy held out her hand and the wolf stretched his neck forward to sniff her hand. Everyone watched I shocked silence as Fang, one of the most dangerous wolves in the pack, simply licked her hand after a brief sniff and began wagging its tail. Their jaws practically hit the floor when the rest of the pack came over and swarmed Percy in a giant cyclone of licks, and fur. The only noise in the clearing was the sound of the wolves moving around and Percy's laughter as he was dog piled.

When the wolves finally left and went back to start guarding camp again ten minutes later the group looked in shock as Percy walked back over to them with a giant grin on her face. The stares were starting to unnerve the daughter of Poseidon and a small blush appeared on her face.

"What?" she asked, "I've always wanted to pet a wolf, their one of my favorite animals. I never saw one when I used to…."

She trailed off realizing she was about to reveal her real identity,

"When I used to sneak into the woods when I was a kid. My step-dad used to get so mad," she said, quickly thinking up a lie.

Thalia just snorted in amusement at the lie as the group continued on with the tour. The last place in the camp tour was…..the archery range. Percy and Thalia paled as they locked gazes after seeing it. They tried to hurry along and leave knowing what the hunters were going to ask, but they weren't quick enough as Zoe asked the dreaded question.

"How good are you two with a bow?"

Thalia saw the panic in Percy's eyes and tried to cover for her,

"I'm alright, but…Ravyn doesn't really have much interest in…."

"No interest in using the bow? Nonsense, the bow is an amazing weapon," interjected Zoe, gaining nods from the other hunters, "Come Ravyn, let me see you shoot a few arrows."

Percy's stomach dropped as she walked forward, glancing back at Thalia who shot her an apologetic look. She gingerly took the bow out of Zoe's hands as she pointed towards the row of targets.

"Just aim for the target in front of you and shoot," she explained pointing at the target directly in front of her.

The other hunters began to converge upon the group, wondering if the daughter of Poseidon would be any good at archery. Even Artemis showed up, curiosity getting the best of her. Obviously, nobody told her what happened the last time Percy shot a bow. Percy looked at all he hunters gathered and then directly at Artemis before he spoke,

"I really don't think this is a good idea. I'm not very good with this."

"We specialize in using the bow and arrow," said Zoe, "We can help you learn."

Percy gulped before he spoke again,

"Alright, I apologize in advance for anything I might destroy."

The hunters and the goddess just chuckled at the comment and passed it off as a joke. They had seen bad archers before, so they weren't too worried. How bad could she be? Only Thalia knew and she was mentally preparing herself for the event that was about to occur, knowing the hunters were going to regret this decision forever.

Percy got into her stance and pulled back on the bow string, pulling it until it was taught and took aim.

"Hey you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be."

Percy fired the arrow and it screamed through the air towards the target.

"Your stance was a bit off and you were holding the bow a little off but…"

It was at that moment that all hell broke loose.

The arrow hit just above the target just like last time and began to ricochet around the firing range. Cries of shock and fear escaped the group as they all ducked for cover as the arrow whizzed around above them. Finally it bounce off into the air out of the archery range. The group stood and a few of the hunters began to chuckle, but Percy and Thalia looked at each other. They knew it wasn't over.

"Well that was certainly…..surprising," said Artemis, "But we can teach you to fire a bow with….why are you looking at me like that?"

Percy just held up her hand and began to count down from five to zero. The hunters were confused until Percy hit one. When Percy hit one an explosion rocked the clearing they were in as the hunters stood in complete and utter shock. Pieces of broken, charred wood began to rain down on them. When a large rectangular piece of wood fell to the middle of the range with a large crash the hunters realized where the wood was coming from.

"H-how did that arrow explode?" asked one hunter.

"She is by far the worst archer I've ever seen," stated another.

"I-is that…..a part of the dining table from camp?" asked another.

Artemis silently walked towards Percy who was already holding out the bow and arrows she'd been given and took them from her hands. She turned and addressed the hunters.

"Girls," began Artemis, "Ravyn is not allowed to use a bow under any circumstances. Are we clear?"

The hunters, too shocked to verbally reply, just nodded their heads in approval.

"Now," said Artemis, "Let's go salvage what's left of the dining area and see if we can reuse it."

The hunters plus a snickering Thalia, and sulking Percy exited the archery range in order to sift through the charred rubble that was left by Percy.

Night had fallen and the hunters were all sitting around a large fire comprised of the unusable pieces from what was now dubbed "The Archery Incident". Percy and Thalia were sitting next to each other listening to the hunters tell stories after they all ate a meal of wild venison and soup. Suddenly a thought popped into Thalia's head. She turned towards Percy who was absentmindedly playing with a small fox that had wandered over towards her during dinner.

"Hey Ravyn," said Thalia.

"Yeah Thals?" replied Percy.

"You know you haven't sung for me in a while."

Percy paused and looked over at Thalia, silently mulling over her statement.

"You know….you're right. With all the crap that's been happening lately I haven't sung in a while. I almost didn't pack my IPod."

"You should sing a song for me."

"What? Right now? But the hunters…."

"Don't mind them. Come on do it! For me? Please?"

Percy sighed. She knew Thalia would keep pestering her until she sung for her, plus the way she was pouting was cute.

"I don't even know if I can sing in this form."

Thalia just continued to give Percy puppy dog eyes.

"Ughh fine," she relented, giving her a quick peck on the lips so the hunters didn't see before she sat up straight, "You're lucky you're cute."

Percy sat and thought about what she wanted to sing for a moment before she settled on a song. She knew Thalia would like this one.

Percy closed her eyes as she began to sing.

**Lightning by Alex Goot**

**She's staring me down with those electric eyes,  
>No matter how hard I try,<br>I can't escape that gaze tonight,  
>That girl's up in the atmosphere,<br>That girl's up in the atmosphere,  
>Oh,<br>**

As Percy sung the conversation between the hunters began to dwindle as they all stopped to listen in. They were captivated by how melodic her voice was .

**I'm hypnotized by the way she moves,  
>Baby girl please help me soothe,<br>Imma take you to the sun and the moon,  
>That girl's up in the atmosphere,<br>Oh,  
>That girl's up in the atmosphere,<br>Yeah,**

**And I've been catching myself thinking of it,  
>It was three in the morning,<br>Every day I chase after her,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<strong>

Thalia's smile grew wider and wider as she realized this song was about her. She closed her eyes and just let herself get lost in the lyrics.

**Catching myself thinking of it,  
>It was three in the morning,<br>Every day I chase after her,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<br>No, I can't catch lightning,**

**She'll make you believe anything she wants,  
>Make you think that you're the one,<br>She will keep you there,  
>That girl's up in the atmosphere,<br>She's way up in the atmosphere,**

**And I've been catching myself thinking of it,  
>It was three in the morning,<br>Every day I chase after her,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<br>Catching myself thinking of it,  
>It was three in the morning,<br>Every day I chase after her,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<br>No, I can't catch lightning  
>Oh I can't catch lightning,<br>Yeah,  
>I can't catch lightning,<strong>

**She's staring me down with those electric eyes,  
>No matter how hard I try,<br>I can't escape that gaze tonight,  
>That girl's up in the atmosphere,<br>That girl's up in the atmosphere,  
>That girls up in the atmosphere,<br>Oh,  
>She's way up in the atmosphere,<strong>

**And I've been waiting, waiting, waiting for you,  
>Anticipating,<br>Chasing after things that you do,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<br>Waiting, waiting, waiting for you  
>Anticipating,<br>Chasing after things that you do,  
>But I can't catch lightning,<br>No, I can't catch lightning,  
>Oh yeah,<br>No I can't catch lightning,  
>Oh I can't catch lightning,<br>Oh no,  
>I can't catch lightning<strong>

When Percy finished she was immediately glomped by a laughing Thalia as the hunters cheered. Percy just smiled and hugged Thalia back, returning the embrace. Hunters were bombarding Percy with song requests as she and Thalia untangled from their hug, and Percy sighed in mock aggravation before replying.

"Alright fine fine. I'll sing a few more songs, so you girls better work out which ones I'm gonna sing," she said as she gave Thalia a withering glare, "See what you started?"

Thalia shrugged, completely ignoring the glare directed towards her, and laid back with her head resting in Percy's lap. Percy sighed again as she waited for her requests, absentmindedly playing with Thalia's short spiky locks. All the while Artemis watched on with a smile on her face. Her hunters were happy and having fun, and the two demigoddesses were fitting in just fine. Besides that….unfortunate event earlier today had been a good day. Maybe….just maybe she thought she would invite Percy back to hang with the hunt when he got turned back, if the girls accepted him that is.

He wasn't that bad, for a male.

**Aaannd that's all comrades! Percy and Thalia's journey to Main is soon to begin, but before that a little relaxation was needed. What kind of enemies will they encounter on their way up to Westover Hall? Will Percy be able to keep her identity hidden? Who are the two children of Hades they're supposed to rescue? (As if you don't know). All those questions and more will be answered in the next installment of Hydromancer! **

**The support I've gotten for this fan fiction has been great, and I thank every one of you who are continuing to read it. As I stated in the beginning this is my first time ever writing one and I want to know what has been the favorite part of the story, and what would you like to see happen? If I like the idea, and it meshes with the blue print I've already laid out then I might just put your idea in here. Leave a review or P.M me your answers! **

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging Out.**


	18. Bacon Bribery

**Hello comrades! I have returned with the latest installment of Hydromancer! Sorry for the long wait, but my spring break has been anything but fun. From technical difficulties to traumatic experiences, let's just say I can't wait for this week to be over. Anyways on to the part you really came her for!**

**Traveling with the hunters to rescue the children of Hades, what kind of trials await our young heroes! How long can Percy keep her secret? Read on to find out!**

**Also considering the poll I created regarding Percy's gender status. Tis now Closed! The results are as follows:**

**Percy stays a girl: 68**

**Percy goes back to being a boy: 66**

**As you can see the poll was extremely close. I've actually received reviews from people who have threatened to stop reading if I leave him a girl, but a lot of you want to have a femPercy. Either choice I make someone isn't going to be happy, but regardless I've made my choice and it's not as obvious as many think. You'll find out just what it is in the next few chapters!**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

**Previously on Hydromancer:**

_Thalia shrugged, completely ignoring the glare directed towards her, and laid back with her head resting in Percy's lap. Percy sighed again as she waited for her requests, absentmindedly playing with Thalia's short spiky locks. All the while Artemis watched on with a smile on her face. Her hunters were happy and having fun, and the two demigoddesses were fitting in just fine. Besides that….unfortunate event earlier today had been a good day. Maybe….just maybe she thought she would invite Percy back to hang with the hunt when he got turned back, if the girls accepted him that is. _

**Present Time:**

Percy didn't understand the hunters views, being in a relationship was great. There were so many cool things that you got because you're in a relationship. You got to kiss someone who wasn't your parents. You got someone who would sit and listen to your constant whining about how unfair your life was. You got someone you could fondle without consequences or repercussions! How great was that!? Despite all that, there was one thing that Percy loved about relationships above all others.

Cuddling

There was something about cuddling that Percy just loved unconditionally. That's why right now, cuddle up and messing with a slumbering Thalia's hair on the snow covered ground, Percy wasn't complaining about her life. Her Thalia and the hunters had been traveling for three days and would reach Westover Hall in around one more. Along the way the group had had a fun time telling stories by the campfire, hunting, and complaining about boys. Even Percy joined in on the complaining, mainly pulling from her recent experiences. She had a newfound respect for women who had been dealing with asshole guys their whole lives. Even though she knew that not all guys were like that, she'd dealt with her fair share of them.

They were taking a brief respite in the afternoon before they continued on with their journey, huddling around a large campfire just resting and enjoying the atmosphere. The breath that escaped her lips hung condensed in the air before dissipating as she hummed softly to herself. Percy looked down at the sleeping daughter of Zeus and couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. This girl made her so happy. She didn't know what she would do without her. She'd been by her side almost her entire life, and she couldn't imagine life without her. From her crocked grin to her ever so violent tendencies, there was nothing Percy didn't love about her.

Well….almost nothing

She did steal her IPod from time to time, and sometimes they argued over the dumbest things, and sometimes she would eat sea food just to get on her nerves, but meh, that's relationships. Thalia's arms were firmly latched around her waist as she purred in content from having her hair stroked. Some of the hunters would glance their way and snicker, but Percy paid them no mind. She didn't care whether they saw or not, a little attention wasn't going to stop her from showing her affection. A loud rumbling drew the attention of the surrounding hunters causing Percy to blush in embarrassment.

Hunger, cuddling fatal weakness

Percy Sighed. She didn't feel like making anything to eat and besides, she couldn't cook all too well anyways. She did however know who could. A large Cheshire grin stretched across her face as she leant down and kissed Thalia right on the lips. She held the kiss for a few seconds and even slipped her tongue into her sleeping girlfriend's mouth eliciting tired moans to escape Thalia as he eyes fluttered open. Her brain began to register what was going on and immediately she began kissing Percy back, using her own tongue to wrestle with the invading one. After a few minutes of making out Percy broke off the kiss leaving a dazed and confused Thalia wondering what was going on.

"Thalia, be a dear and make me something to eat please?" Percy asked as she lay back down on the snow covered ground, "I'd do it myself, but you know I suck at cooking."

Thalia scowled as she began to come out of her befuddled state, and then crawled up so her face was directly over Percy's grinning one.

"You woke me up to make you food?" she grumbled irritably, "What makes you think I'm gonna…"

Percy leaned up and captured her lips once more before she could continue her griping, savoring the mild taste of ozone Thalia's lips always held. Thalia leaned into the kiss as their tongues began to battle once more, but just like last time Percy broke the kiss leaving Thalia dazed once more.

"You're gonna do it cuz you love me and my kisses," whispered Percy into Thalia's ear, sending shivers down the girls spine.

Thalia sighed as she pulled herself to her feet and began to walk towards the lunch tent to make them some food, all the while trying to fight down the blush she knew was on her face and muttering about "her own trick being used against her". Percy just sat up and snickered at her girlfriend's misfortune as reached her arm up and arched her back, stretching out the kinks that lying on the ground for extended periods of time can give. After her stretch she reached out with her hand and began to manipulate the snow, a trick she just recently found out she could do, into whatever shape was in her mind at the time. It went from an igloo, to a snowman, to a tank, to a miniature Thalia, and more. After ten minutes of this Percy began to wonder where Thalia was. She turned towards the dining tent and was knocked back when a gigantic icy ball of slush hit her square in the face.

Before Percy could rise she felt a weight sit on her midsection and heard the sinister snickering of a daughter of Zeus. Percy whipped her face free of snow and glared at the offending demigod who was straddling her while holding a plate of bacon in one hand and had the remains of a snowball in her other.

"Mind telling me why you hit me in the face with a snowball?" asked an affronted Percy.

Thalia just smirked and lifted up a piece of bacon and began eating it slowly, savoring the taste of it.

"Thalia get off me and give me some. You know I love bacon!" said a slightly panicky Percy.

There were only ten pieces of bacon on the plate and Thalia had already eaten two. Percy was afraid that Thalia would up and eat all the bacon.

"Hmmm, did you say something Percy? I couldn't hear you over how delicious this bacon is," chuckled Thalia as she picked up yet another piece of the fried delicacy and began chewing on it.

"Thalia come on! Don't eat them all!"

"Only four pieces left. I wonder if I should give them to my girlfriend?"

"Thalia!"

"She did wake me up from my delightful nap to make food though…"

"Thalia please!"

"And she did kiss me into submission before I could decline…."

"Thalia don't! Don't do it!"

"I guess she doesn't deserve any of this tasty bacon…"

"I do deserve it!"

"Oh well, more for me…"

"Please I'll do anything!"

Thalia paused before she devoured the rest of the bacon as Percy's words reached her ears. Percy and the surrounding hunters all shivered at the sight of the evil grin that spread across Thalia's face. Even Zoe and Artemis winced.

Yeah Percy don fucked up now.

"I want a favor for each piece of bacon," stated Thalia.

While the hunters all looked at each other disappointed, Percy paled. She knew this was going to be bad. Thalia was finally getting payback. A year back, Percy had beat Thalia at who could climb the rock wall the fastest so Thalia owed her three favors. Percy used those to make Thalia do all sorts of weird things, like flirt with Clarisse. Thalia never did forgive her for that, and now she was going to get payback. Percy knew this day would come, and she would decline her offer right now if it wasn't for the fact that she was so gods damned hungry and vulnerable at the moment. Percy sighed, she knew when she was beaten.

"Ok fine," she said, "You win. Just give me my bacon!"

Thalia's grin turned triumphant as she kissed Percy's forehead and shoved the bacon into her mouth before standing.

"When you're done with that you might want to stretch for our fight," said Thalia as she sauntered off into a nearby training clearing, "I'll be waiting Kelpy!"

Percy just groaned and then ate her bacon in silence. She noticed that the hunters began to stand and walk towards where Thalia had disappeared to. Percy sat up and turned towards Zoe and Artemis as they passed by.

"Where are all you guys going?"

Artemis and Zoe glanced at each other and then back towards Percy and shrugged,

"Why to watch the fight of course," replied Artemis.

"Yes, thine battle should prove to be very entertaining," said Zoe as the two began to walk away.

Percy just sighed as she stood and followed the two to the training clearing. When she arrived Thalia was standing there with the entire crew of hunters seated around them in a large half circle. Percy took her place across from Thalia in the center and crossed her arms, mimicking Thalia's stance.

"Fight rules?" asked Percy.

"No rules besides nothing lethal," said Thalia as she slid into her battle stance, her shield in front of her and her spear aimed towards Percy.

"You're just a violent little demigod aren't you?" replied Percy as her gauntlets appeared on her arms and she slid into her battle stance, arms up in a boxer like stance as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

A tense silence followed as the two waited to see who would make the first strike. The two stared into each other's eyes, electric blue meeting toxic green, as they waited for the unspoken signal that their fight had begun. A twitch of the eye was the only signal needed.

Like a roaring wave, Percy surged forward fists at the ready. Not one to wait, Thalia surged forward to meet her with a roar of her own, spear point crackling with electricity and shield raised high. Percy shot her right fist forward with a vicious left jab. Thalia raised her shield to intercept the blow, her arm buckling slightly at the power held behind it. Thalia threw her shield arm wide, leaving Percy open for an electrified stab with her spear. Percy used her left arm and swept the blow wide, but she didn't escape any injury. The lightning coating the spear arced to Percy's gauntlet clad arm, sending a massive jolt down that arm. Percy leapt backwards in order to create some space, shaking her now numb left arm to get some feeling back into it.

She reached into her core and called upon her demigod powers, and raised her arms parallel to the snow covered earth. The snow behind her began to rise and formed into large floating spheres. Thalia smirked,

"Oh what going to hit me with some snowballs? Is that the best you can do?"

Percy answered with a smirk and the clenching of her fists which caused the snowballs behind her to compact and harden into ice, effectively whipping the smirk off of Thalia's face. Percy took her fighting stance again and began to throw punches that sent the balls of ice careening towards Thalia.

Thalia ducked the first two balls of ice and blocked the third with her shield, but with a never ending supply of snow and ice around the two, Percy had the advantage. Thalia needed to eliminate that advantage quickly or she was going to lose. Still dodging the icy projectiles being sent her direction, Thalia began to slowly make her way towards Percy.

The daughter of Poseidon created an ice ball three times the size of the previous and sent it at Thalia, and then immediately afterwards surged forward behind it. Thalia knew she wasn't going to be able to block this attack, but she knew she had something that could destroy it. It was time to unveil a new trick. She used her power over wind and began swirling it around her shield. Just before the ball of ice impacted her, she slammed her shield down into the ground, and seemingly out of nowhere a wall of randomly spinning air leapt up around Thalia, grinding the ball of ice to nothing and scattering the snow far and wide. Percy leapt back inches from being shredded in that maelstrom Thalia created.

"What the Hell! I thought you said nothing lethal!" shouted Percy.

"You're not dead are you? Besides you wouldn't have died, just been severely injured. Now shut up and fight!" Thalia replied with a yell.

Thalia raised her spear and a loud clap of thunder sounded in the air. Percy panicked and jumped to the side just in time to dodge a small lightning bolt impact the earth where she had been. Had she still been standing there she would've been out cold. Percy growled, if that's how Thalia wanted to play then fine, they would play. Percy jumped straight backwards dodging two lightning bolts as she prepared for what she was about to do. She back flipped out of the way of another lightning bolt and then jumped into the air. She summoned a thin wall of water below her and used it to leap straight at Thalia.

Thalia, completely surprised by Percy's water trick, wasn't prepared to block and received a powerful strike to the gut that sent her flying backwards. She jabbed her spear into the earth to slow her skid backwards. She straightened and spit out a glob of blood, before narrowing her eyes at Percy. She shot forward at the grinning daughter of the sea. She threw the spear out at Percy causing her to lean backwards in order to dodge it. Thalia grinned and focused on the spear. An intense burning in her gut flared and she knew she only had one shot at pulling this off. She closed her eyes and pushed almost all her power forward at once. Thalia became lightning, and before a second had passed she arced over and clutched onto her spear as she hovered above Percy's shocked face.

Thalia crashed down on top of Percy and used her body weight to pin her down. Holding her arms down with one hand and holding her spear tip under Percy's chin with the other, Thalia couldn't keep the wicked grin off her face.

"Looks like that's another win for me darling," she snickered as she removed the tip of her spear from under her throat.

"When the hell could you do that!?" asked Percy, completely ignoring Thalia's previous comment.

"I don't know. When could you use water to shoot through the air like a bullet?" rebutted Thalia.

"Touché," replied Percy, "Now can you get off of me you're heavy."

Before Thalia could comply or deny her request, clapping began to sound from all around them. The two girls looked around, completely forgetting about the hunters surrounding them as Zoe, Phoebe, and Artemis walked up to them.

"Twas a good fight you two!" exclaimed Zoe.

"Yeah, that was awesome! Can I fight next!?" shouted Phoebe to which everyone just sweat dropped.

"It was a brilliant match. If that was your practice fights I'd love to see how you are for real," said Artemis, "As entertaining as that was though, we really should get a move on. Westover hall isn't that far away."

The two nodded in compliance as the rest of the hunters began to head back to the main camp in order to pack up their tents. Thalia looked back down at Percy and kissed her, startling the downed girl. She deepened the kiss as Percy accepted it, swirling her tongue around in her mouth as Percy became lost in the kiss. Thalia smirked and broke it apart as she stood and walked back to camp leaving a dazed Percy lying on the ground.

"That's how you do that, amateur."

Percy grumbled and stood, brushing the dirt off of her back. She was just about to walk to the camp when….,

"HEY PERCY!"

Percy squealed in terror as she leapt high into the air and spun to face whoever snuck up behind her. It was a hunter about her age standing there with a large grin on her face. Percy could tell something was off about this girl, her hair was extremely blond, and her grin was so bright it was like looking at the sun. Wait….looking at the sun?

"Apollo?! Is that you!? What the Hades man you scared the shit out of me!"

"Hehe sorry, I couldn't help it," the now confirmed Apollo stated, "As to why I look like this, I was blending in so the hunters didn't try and murder me. Artemis knows I'm here and will probably get all pissy if I stay to long so here."

Apollo tossed a small glass vial filled with a dark green liquid into Percy's hands.

"That is your cure my friend!"

"What! Really? You said it could take weeks! Months even!" shouted Percy.

"Dude I'm the god of medicine! I was just messing with you! I would've made you wait longer, but some angry gods made me give it to you earlier. Those fun ruiners! Anyways, drink the vial. It should take a week or so to take effect so don't worry about suddenly turning into a guy with the hunters. Also, there is a slim chance there could be side effects from this."

"Side effects!?"

"Don't worry nothing serious. It's just because I don't quite know what turned you into a girl I had to make a cure all potion so there might be unintended side effects, like growing a second head, or death, or a cold."

"Death!?"

"You're worried about the death after you hear the cold part? Weirdo… Anyways, it's an extremely slim chance so I wouldn't worry about it. Now I have to leave now before my sister fires any arrows at me. See ya!"

Apollo disappeared in a flash of golden light leaving a flustered and slightly apprehensive Percy standing with a mysterious, and maybe deadly, cure for his ailment. She sighed, it was probably the best she was going to get. She uncorked the lid and after a brief pause drank the small vial. Percy smacked her lips, the taste of green apple lingering on her tongue as a slightly warm feeling began to spread from her chest. She'd worry about this later, right now she had to get a move on back to camp so they could get to Westover and rescue those demigods. A brief sense of foreboding washed over Percy as began to walk back, but she shrugged it off. They were just grabbing a couple of demigods. What's the worst that could happen?

**That's that comrades! The chapter is over! Percy and Thalia entertained the hunters with a spar, and Percy finally received a cure for her little problem, but what's with that sudden sense of foreboding? What's the worst that could happen? With me, oh there is so much I could do! If you want to know what's going to happen next, you'll just have to come back for the next chapter!**

**READ AND REVIEW! Solo Gamer Logging Out.**


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